A Story of Long Ago
by OwlCookies XD
Summary: Mavis Vermilion. The founder and first guild master of Fairy Tail. Everyone knows that. But... how did Fairy Tail ever come to be?
1. The Assassin

"Mavis." A young boy shook awake the older girl. "Mavis, wake up!" His shaking caused the long blond locks of the girl to fall upon her face. She sneezed and sat up, accidentally hitting the boy in the process. "Owwy… That really hurt."

Mavis's blank eyes looked at him. A small smile came across her face. "I apologize for that, Yusari." She wiped her nose with her thumb. "What's wrong?"

The young boy in front of Mavis looked so petty compared to her. His long brown bangs, tied up to the top of his head was now sprawled across his dirty and sweaty face. Yusari's stomach growled. "I couldn't catch any food…" he mumbled. "Can… you help me?"

Yusari was a young boy, who after meeting this strange and mysterious girl, began following along after her. She never had explained properly as to why she was a lone traveler, but even so, he followed along knowing that an adventure would await him.

Mavis frowned. "Did you try fishing over there?" She pointed to a small creek not too far away.

The young boy gasped. "W-When did that ever get there?" He ran off with a fishing rod shouting in a conquest. "Here I come, fish! Your slimy bodies will be MINE!"

Chuckling, Mavis watched as Yusari desperately attempted to catch a fish. Once he caught enough to feed both of them, the two children rejoiced, celebrating by decorating the fish with local herb they found and cooking it to perfection.

"Ne, Mavis," Yusari said, biting into his share of fish. "You're a mage, right?"

Mavis nodded also biting into her fish.

"One day, can you teach me magic?" he asked her hopefully.

A slight breeze blew her blond locks across her blank smile. It ruffled the frilled edges of her yellow dress adding more of a mysterious aura to Mavis. Yusari continued to thoughtfully eat his fish in wonder.

Now, Mavis and Yusari were close friends. They were best friends, family, and traveling companions. But if he thought about it, Yusari realized that he barely knew anything about the older girl. All he knew about her was that she was Mavis Vermilion, a young but powerful mage, traveling around the country of Fiore.

"You will learn your own form of magic in your own time," Mavis told him.

Yusari saw that she had waited until they had finished with heir meal before Mavis had replied to his question. Although her answer hadn't filled his curious mind, he let it be, knowing that it was pointless to continue.

"Where are we going next?" he continued, trying to keep the conversation going.

Mavis's eyes narrowed suddenly. Quickly, she grabbed his arm and protectively hid him behind her. Her head whipped from side to side and her nose twitched. The grip Mavis had on Yusari's arm tightened.

"Ne, what's happening?" Yusari asked in fright.

Mavis's noise twitched again. "I sense a dark presence near here." She quickly put out the fire they had made. "Let's go, Yusari-kun." Together, they quickly walked through the meadow and thistles, scraping their bare feet in the process.

"Why don't you fight? You're strong. I don't understand." Yusari looked up to Mavis expectantly but her blank eyes, now troubled, paid no heed to his words.

They were on top of a cliff now. Down below was a beach where waves of the ocean crashed nearby. Behind them was dense forest where the rays of sunlight barely reached the forest floor. Their feet, sore from running and going through thistles, found relief on the mossy ground beneath them. But as they sat near a large tree to rest, the firm ground began trembling. The leaves shook and rattled, the animals scattered and the birds flew away in a fright while the little rocks and pebbles bounced around crashing into each other. Mavis stood upright, her grip on Yusari had never ceased.

"Mavis? What's going on?" Yusari asked, his voice faltering.

The young blond girl looked up with a serious face. "Stay close to me, Yusari-kun."

The way Mavis ignored his questions frightened him the most. He was impatient and not knowing what was going on really got into his head. Yusari didn't know whether to be irritated or afraid.

Mavis spun around to face the noon sky past the ocean's horizon. A protective arm whipped Yusari behind her.

"Nyehehe," a voice laughed.

"Show yourself!" Mavis shouted.

Again, the cliff they stood atop trembled. Yusari gasped as he felt an enormous magic power seep from the ground beneath him. The air then began to feel denser and denser until somehow, he felt like he was light and airborn. He blinked in disbelief. They were flying. How were they flying? Yusari was the two wing-like objects near Mavis's ears glow. Could that be the source?

In the distance, a man hovered in air just as Mavis and Yusari were. But this man didn't have the ear wings like Mavis. Instead, he had full wings attached to his back. Yusari shuddered as he felt the two strong magic powers radiate from both bodies.

"Nyehehehe," the man laughed again. He then pointed to himself. "The name's Ciel Conran. I've been watch you, Mavis Vermilion."

"So I've sensed," Mavis said calmly. "What is your purpose?"

Ciel rolled his eyes. "Don't talk like a fancy woman, girlie. I've been hired to hunt you down. Call me a fairy hunter some say."

"Fairy?" Yusari asked.

Ciel laughed some more. "Oh? You haven't told yer companion anything? Shame. He seems like a knowledgeable kid."

"Do you work with the Magic Council?" Mavis asked.

"Feh! If I did, I'd be proclaiming giant paragraphs of nonsense! No, no one likes the magic Council anyway! Nyehehe!" Ciel exclaimed.

Mavis tensed.

"Ne, Mavis, what's he talking about?" Yusari asked.

She held out an arm. "Keep quiet."

Nodding, Yusari watched the two mages glower at each other.

"Would you like to make the first move? The first law to being a gentleman is to let the lady go first." Ciel laughed at his own joke.

"Then I shall." Mavis raised her arm to him. "Shine brightly upon those who oppose me. Light of the fairy."

Yusari, traveling with Mavis for a long time, had never actually seen the magic she possessed. In fact, this battle was the first time he had ever seen pure magic in action. So when rays of light shot out of Mavis's hand, Yusari could hardly believe what he saw. _This is magic. This is magic power._

The rays of light shot from Mavis's hand was deflected by one of Ciel's wings. His wings provided him as armor and a shield from her attack. Ciel smirked as the light disintegrated before him.

"Is that all you got?" he shouted out triumphantly.

Mavis looked at him blankly. A small frown appeared on her face. "I see."

She jerked and suddenly, Mavis and Yusari flew in the direction of Ciel. Mavis's hair tickled Yusari's nose as he held onto her shoulders for dear life. His heart beat rapidly as he looked down at the beach below him. If he were to fall, would he get crushed with the impact?

Ciel eagerly licked his lips. As Mavis neared him, a sword appeared in his hand. He held it ready to strike at the girl. But Mavis, already anticipating his next move, held out her arms which were now illuminated with light. As Ciel slashed his sword at her, Mavis dodged and grabbed his leg. She pulled it making Ciel lose his concentration. He fell backward, his wings disappearing into a bought of feathers. Smiling blankly, Mavis let go of his leg causing Ciel to plummet down back to the earth.

His eyes opened wide as he fell. But right before he hit the water, Ciel's back glowed blue and his wings reappeared. He smirked.

Mavis floated down to his level and stood on the water, smiling as he smirked. She tilted her head to the side and gave him a big smile.

"Getting cocky now are we?" Ciel spat, raising his sword.

_Wait. Wait. Mavis is standing on water now? _Yusari's head was spinning. He couldn't believe this. Eventually though, he blanked out.

"You use Owl Magic, do you not?" Mavis asked.

Ciel raised an eyebrow. "Eh? You know about it?" His smirked grew. "Two small creatures. Who's stronger I wonder?" With his wings, he charged at Mavis, slashing and stabbing his sword in her direction.

"It does not matter who's stronger. Join me." Mavis looked at him as she dodged each one of his attacks.

She raised a glowing arm and placed it on his cheek. Mavis smiled.

Ciel screamed in agony. "Wh-What is this?" he shouted out in pain. "It burns!"

When Mavis removed her hand, Ciel's skin was burned and now sizzling with smoke. He bit his lip to stop himself from crying out in pain again.

"I command the warmth of the light," Mavis replied. "Join me."

"No way!" Ciel exclaimed angrily, stabbing at her.

Mavis was caught off guard. Even as she tried dodging the attack, her late realization caused the sword to slice past her arm lightly. It started bleeding. This made Ciel laugh triumphantly. Mavis kicked him, her leg glowing as well as her arms. This time, he fell to the ocean. He cringed as the waves crashed against the burn on his cheek.

"Why you…!" Feathers surrounded him. Ciel raised his arm and set his palm facing the girl. The feathers then made a tornado around Mavis. "This'll teach you!"

Protectively, Mavis wrapped her hands, which were no longer glowing, around Yusari. She closed her eyes and bit her lip as she felt the impact of the feathers. They cut at her like millions of blades. The more they cut her, the harder she bit her lip until it started bleeding. Mavis focused her magic around her and with a brilliantly large flash of light, the feathers around her disappeared, leaving Mavis and Yusari bear with cuts and leftover down from the feathers.

Ciel's eyes widened as he bobbed up and down in the water. His mouth opened slightly in shock. There stood Mavis Vermilion, still holding onto Yusari protectively. Although the many cuts on her body ruined her dress and made her bleed, she looked down at him with a blank smile.

"Join me," she repeated for the third time.

Scowling in frustration, Ciel called back his wings and hovered above the water. "Don't you _dare,_ look down at me!" With a battle cry, he began slashing at her once more. "Dance of the Owl's Talons!" Ciel shouted.

Mavis's vision in front of her throbbed. Then, in that instantly, it seemed that Ciel's magic power had increased. With a flurry or feathers and his sword, they all made a mess of stabbing at her.

"DIE!" Ciel cried, using his legs to try to trip her.

Managing to avoid the feathers and the sword attacks, Mavis dove underneath it all and reared up behind him. She put his hand to his shoulder, closed her eyes and sighed. Again, Ciel was burned. Pained, Ciel fell to the water. He cringed as the salty water surrounded his body and brushed against his burns. Ciel let go of his sword. It fell to the depth of the ocean. Then his wings and feathers disappeared.

Mavis held out her hand to him. Even if he didn't take it, she took a hold of his hand and pulled him out of the water.

"Join me," she insisted.

With Yusari on her back and Ciel in her arms, she took them to shore and placed them on the sand underneath the shade of the cliff. She sat at their feet, enjoying the sun's warmth on her feet.

"Oh," she said to herself. "It seems like I forgot to eat."

**XXXX**

**OwlCookies: yaayy! I wrote it! I wrote it! I've really wanted to do a fanfiction for this ever since I saw mavis in the manga! But I couldn't because I didn't know if mavis was a girl or a boy… so I looked it up on Wikipedia :3 **

**All magic used in the chapter isn't actually in fairy tail. Owl magic is my imagination because owls are awesome like that. Oh yeah, and the light of the fairy, as far as im concerned(same with Wikipedia), mavis has never used that. But since she uses those "three great fairy magic" and they take a lot of magic power, I made some random magic thing that was weaker. I mean like, she isn't the guild master of fairy tail yet :) **

**oh yeah. WHY ISN'T MAVIS A CHARACTER IS THE CHARACTER LIST? :O  
><strong>


	2. Do Fairies Have Tails?

**OwlCookies: im so sad... i didnt get any reviews :(**

**XXXX  
><strong>

"Ahh! Mavis! Watch out! That guy's gonna get you!"

When Yusari woke up after fainting, the first thing he saw was Ciel with a stick pointed at Mavis who was next to a bonfire. After he rubbed his eyes, he realized that on the stick was a fish and that Ciel was handing her the fish.

"Shut up, pipsqueak. I'm giving her some fish. Here's one for you," Ciel scowled at the boy.

If the three stood next to each other, Ciel was the tallest, then Mavis, and then Yusari. It was reasonable though, seeing their age differences. Ciel was also the oldest, being 12. Though, no one knew how old Mavis. Not even Mavis herself. Though, she looked at least 9 because of her childish looking face. But considering the amount of magic power she had and her maturity level, she must have been much older. Yusari was 7. His scrawny body made him look younger.

Mavis turned to Yusari and gave him a smile. "Welcome back, Yusari-kun."

Yusari took the fish from Ciel hesitantly. But when he took a bite, he gobbled it down instantly.

"Hey, if you're 12," Yusari said, motioning Ciel. "Why were you hired to kill Mavis?"

"Feh," Ciel spat. "Don't you know anything? I'm an assassin. We assassins have no age requirements. If we can kill and if we do it well, we get hired. I could be 23 for all I care."

Yusari jumped up and held out a fist angrily. "I was trying to be nice! You don't have to be so rude!"

Ciel rubbed his ear with his pinky. "The word 'nice' isn't in my dictionary. Try again, kid."

"You wanna go?" Yusari shouted.

Both Ciel and Yusari were head to head, growling at each other. The tension between them was like static. But they stopped when they heard Mavis chuckle. A light smile was on her face when she stopped.

Huffing, both boys sat apart from each other around the fire. Yusari had his bottom lip in a pout while Ciel stuck his tongue out, facing away.

"What is this, anyway?" Ciel growled. "Some caravan? I don't know _how_ you managed to get a great assassin like me into this mess!"

Yusari scowled at the boy. Ciel had spiky hair that looked like a dark navy blue shade. His eyes were big much like an owl and it seemed to glow golden. His skin was actually fairy light and creamy. Probably due to the lack of light assassins have. Ciel wore a black bandanna around his neck. Actually, last time Yusari saw him, it was around his mouth. Everything else Ciel wore was also black. He had black gaucho shoes, black sweat pants with charcoal gray edges, and a black shirt with a charcoal gray cape around him where on the inside was red.

He then looked to himself. Yusari wore a white sleeveless shirt with a v-neck and green caprees that reached just past his knees. Then there was his brown boots and two arm silver bands wrapped around his upper arm, right near his shoulders. His skin was tan because of so much exposure to the sun and Mavis's magic probably was a cause. Yusari's brown hair, a little longer than it should be, was tied in a small and lose pony tail while his bangs, also long, were tied up on top of his head like an antennae.

Then there was Mavis who had exceptionally long and wavy blond hair with a little antennae sticking up past her bangs. Near here ears were white wing-like protrusions. Her skin was light and creamy like Ciel's only a slight bit tanner. For clothes, she wore a yellow dress with an orange ribbon around her neck and brown sandals. Her eyes, always looking blank and out in space, swirled with a mysterious mixture of light brown and gold. For Yusari, Mavis would forever seem like a mystery.

"Yusari-kun," Mavis said, shaking Yusari away from his thoughts. "Why did you pass out earlier?" she asked.

"I-I felt your magic powers," Yusari replied. "It seemed to big… it was scary and I couldn't believe it when I saw you fly, stand on water, shoot light out of your hands! I guess…" He looked away, too embarrassed to continue.

"Scaredy cat!" Ciel exclaimed sticking out his tongue at the younger boy.

"A-Am not!" Yusari protested, feeling even more embarrassed.

"Now, now," Mavis said calmly. "There is no need for that, Ciel-kun. Yusari is new to magic." She then looked at the young boy and smiled. "If you can sense magic, then that is a good start. You will be able to use magic soon."

Yusari smiled back at Mavis radiantly. But when she turned away, Yusari mischievously looked at Ciel with an evil-cat-like grin.

Ciel laughed out loud. "Nyehehe! You don't know how to use magic? I learned how to use it when I was 5!" he proclaimed arrogantly.

Mavis smiled at him. "That's good. You'll be a great mage one day."

"You're sayin' I'm not?" Ciel scowled, clenching his fists in an irritation.

"You still have many more years to expand your magic power." Mavis took a hold of both of his hands. "Make the best of it and do what you think is right. That's how you get stronger."

Ciel slapped her hands away. "Feh. That's not how you get stronger. You get stronger by trainin'."

Mavis put her hands down. "Training will also work," she agreed.

Yusari didn't understand how Mavis had the tolerance to put up with that arrogant snob known as Ciel Conran. He seemed like a super irritating person that Yusari really didn't like. Yusari grumbled angrily to himself about how mean Ciel was being to Mavis and how stupid Mavis was being for letting Ciel come along with them.

Mavis put her hands on Yusari's shoulders and embraced him. "We're all family now. Families always fight with each other. But when the time counts, we will all stand together as one," she assured him.

"Ne, he tried to kill you!" Yusari shouted in protest, pointing to the blue haired boy. "How can you be so sure he won't try again?"

Ciel stopped putting ointment on his burns to look at the young boy. All the provoking feelings were now gone from his eyes as he looked at Yusari seriously.

"Mavis and I talked," Ciel said. "I can't prove to you how you can trust me. You'll just have to find that in yer heart." He pointed to his heart.

Yusari raised an eyebrow. "What did you talk about?"

"Don'ot go usin' yer noise to sniff into other people's business!" Ciel threatened.

Mavis lowered her hands from Yusari's shoulders. Her blank eyes seemed to look off into the distance. She hummed to herself as she continued to stare off into the distance.

"Mavis?" Yusari and Ciel asked in unison. "What are you looking at?"

She looked up at the cliff. But her gaze seemed to look even further past the forest on the cliff. Whatever she was looking at probably wasn't part of this world. Maybe it was linked to why she stared off so blankly?

"I wonder," she said to herself. "Do fairies have tails?"

"Eh? Are you off in some dream land? Fairies aren't around anymore, right?" Ciel questioned. "Hello? Mavis?" He waved a hand in front of her face and then sighed when she didn't respond. "Sheesh."

Yusari grabbed her arm and began shaking her. "Mavis. Come back, Mavis."

Ciel looked at him quizzically. "Come back?"

"Mavis's mind occasionally wanders off," Yusari explained, shaking the girl some more. "Shaking her is all I can do to bring her back."

Smirking, Ciel stood up and faced Mavis. He extended and arm out and slapped the dazed girl's cheek. Instantly, Mavis jumped slightly. The light to her blank eyes returned.

"Ow," she commented plainly.

"Ow? Is that all you can say?" Yusari grumbled. "Mavis, you aren't a normal person, are you?"

Mavis smiled. "That's it," she said changing the topic.

"Huh?" Yusari and Ciel asked. "That's what?"

"I'll name this guild, Fairy Tail," she replied happily.

"We're… a…. guild?" Yusari asked, exclaiming his shock.

Mavis nodded. "We're Fairy Tail. But, not quite yet."

"Please, explain!" he begged.

"We are not an official guild yet. First, you need to learn magic. We also have to get more members and then get approved by the Magic Council," she explained.

"So yer sayin' that a bunch of us kids are traveling around just to get more members to make a guild?" Ciel asked.

"Our guild is special." Mavis smiled and tilted her head. "Because we're all family."

"But why call it Fairy Tail?" Yusari asked.

"Fairy Tail can be interpreted many ways. Some could say that we are a fairy tale, just a story. Some could say that we are a mystery because no one knows if fairies have tails. But the way I think." Mavis explained, "is that the mysteries we have, it has a never ending one. We can think what we think about the tails of fairies."

"Wow, Mavis! That's the most words I've heard out of your mouth!" Yusari gasped, not understanding the point of her words.

Mavis smiled, understanding his confusion. "It means that… Well, Fairy Tail represents a sense of adventure like what we're doing and for an individual to be able to discover more about their fate. We can do whatever we want as long as we feel it is right because that's what makes us stronger." She then looked at Ciel. "With some training of course."

"Feh. That's a mouthful of an explanation." Ciel raised his fist, smirking. "Works for me, I guess." He then held his fist in front of him. "We're Fairy Tail and we're going to be the number 1 guild!" He gave the other two a thumbs up which earned him smiles from the other two.

"Yeah!" Yusari agreed, placing his fist right next to Ciel's. "Fairy Tail!"

Mavis joined them. "Fairy Tail," she agreed, nodding.

Yusari jumped up and down in excitement. "Well what are we waiting for? Let's go gather new members! And hey, maybe someone can teach me how to use magic along the way!" He grinned cheekily. "I'm all pumped up now!"

Ciel slammed his fist down on the younger boy's head. "Hold your horses, kid. We have to put out this fire before we go anywhere. Wouldn't want to make a huge fire now would we?"

The younger boy placed his hands on the bump on his head. Tears welled at the corner of his eyes. "You didn't have to hit me, you jerk!" Yusari whined.

Ciel rubbed his ear with his pinky in annoyance. "I didn't have to but I wanted to." He smirked smugly.

"Jerk!" Yusari cried. "Bully!"

Mavis breathed out a sigh as she took a bucket of ocean water and dumped it over the fire. Not one single thing those two boys did irritated her. They were family after all.

"The fire is out," she calmly said. "Let's go."

Ciel and Yusari stopped arguing to look at the ashes and burned wook in surprise. Then they looked at Mavis as she held an empty bucket. They both sweat dropped.

"Sorry…" the apologized, scratching the back of their heads awkwardly.

**XXXX**

**OwlCookies: im so excited to write this fic! xD my imagination is wats keeping my pencil writing and fingers typing! I hope im not using ciel to much… I personally find him as my favorite character. Im not exactly sure how… hmm….**

**My worst fear for this fic would be tht I lose my inspiration for it and it turns out to get really bad. In order for numero 2 to not happen, I wont add any romance or any wicked strong magic… **


	3. Orbea

**OwlCookies: still no reviews :( except for chicken didnt cross the road. who for some reason, is reading this even if s/he dusnt kno who mavis vermilion is o_o"**

**XXXX**

It was present time in the city of Magnolia. The first day of celebrating their long awaited return from Tenrou Island where Natsu, Lucy, and everyone else who was on that island were frozen in time for 7 years.

"…and that's what she said," Master Makarov, the 3rd guild master, explained.

"You actually saw the first guild master?" Droy exclaimed.

Makarov nodded.

"Hey." Droy nudged Jet. "How do you think she did it?"

"Hm?" Jet asked his companion. "Did what?"

"How did Mavis create this guild?" Droy asked, reply to Jet's question.

Makarov's gruff voice interrupted their discussion. "I'm not sure about the extent of the truth for this, but apparently, this is the story." Out of nowhere, he took out a book and began reading from it.

"What's the master… I mean Makarov doing?" Erza, the red headed Titania, asked Mirajane.

"He's reading to them about our first guild master," Mirajane replied.

"Ciel Conran's version?" Mirajane nodded. "But isn't he the arrogant one?" Mira nodded again. "Then that story isn't very accurate, isn't it?" Mira shook her head.

"As conceited as he was, there are multiple comments from Mavis herself throughout the book proving the truth of the facts. It's as accurate as anyone can get," Mirajane explained

XXXX

"This is the city of Orbea," Mavis announced.

Together, Ciel and Yusari collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. They disregarded their sheer hate for one another, instead choosing to lean against the other's back. They had traveled far on foot. To get from the beach to the city of Orbea, it had taken them the whole day. Now it was night. Ciel and Yusari were exhausted.

"Dag yo," Ciel grumbled. "I feel like my legs are gonna fall off."

"Why are we in Orbea anyway? Is this place special?" Yusari asked, panting.

"No," Mavis replied. "The darkl guild, Crow's Nest, is in the next city over." She paused. "I can just vaguely remember this city. It has a nostalgic feeling."

"Hm…" Yusari looked at her thoughtfully. "Maybe you were born here?"

Mavis had a faraway look again.

"H-Hey! Mavis! Don't black out on us now!" Yusari shouted in alarm.

"Sheesh," Ciel sighed, standing up. He put his hands on his hips. "Do I have to do _everything_?"

Yusari raised his arms. "Don't slap her again!" he exclaimed.

"You're not the boss of me." Ciel went ahead and slapped the blond girl.

Mavis jumped slightly and put her hand to her cheek. "Ow…" she murmured quietly.

"Ne, Mavis, what do you see when you black out like that?" Yusari asked curiously.

"What I see?" Mavis echoed. "I see… me… I suppose…" She trailed off but her mouth remained slightly open. "I can't remember." Mavis smiled and raised her arms out cheerfully. "Oh well!"

Both boys sweat dropped.

"So, where are we going to stay?" Ciel asked, plopping back down on the ground.

Yusari raised his hand and grinned. "We usually sleep on the streets where no one goes. Like an alley! And sometimes, if we're lucky, we find an abandoned place to sleep!"

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Ciel exclaimed in disbelief. "Yer all nuts thinking that I'll sleep on the cold ground!"

XXXX

"And here I am, sleeping on the cold ground," Ciel grumbled.

Mavis slept while sitting down and leaning against the alley wall. Yusari lay asleep on the ground, his head resting on his arm and her lap. Ciel, not used to sleeping in the cold, huddled in his own corner. He couldn't believe that he had agreed to all this.

"_Join me," _Mavis had told him.

"Mavis Vermilion and her lackey, Yusari Arachnis," Ciel scowled. "You've bested me but soon I _will_ become stronger than both of you."

XXXX

Ciel didn't realize that he slept. All he knew was that Yusari was now shaking him awake.

"Ne, Ciel. Wake up." Yusari persistently continued to shake him awake. "If you don't want up, Mavis and I will eat all the food without you."

The blue haired boy's ears twitched. Then his golden eyes opened. He smirked. "You wouldn't dare eat it all."

"Watch me." Yusari stuck out his tongue. Then, he grabbed a big portion of the smoked sausages. His mouth was open, threatening to eat it all.

"H-Hey! Give me some of that!" Ciel hissed. Angrily, he snatched some sausages from the smug looking boy and began eating.

Mavis smiled blankly at the two boys. They had just woken up and already they were bickering. The future of Fairy Tail would truly be great.

Once their breakfast was eaten, Mavis, Yusari, and Ciel began walking around. Orbea was a fairly large city with many buildings both large and small. What caught their attention most was the many water fountains and festive decoration that decorated every street. Not only that, but no one seemed to inhabit that city. It was dead silent.

"Dag yo. This is weird. Where's everybody?" Ciel asked, his arms behind his head.

Mavis's nose twitched.

"Please don't tell me there's a bad guy here! I don't like it! I don't wanna run in with a bad guy again! Please let your nose twitching be for food!" Yusari whimpered.

Ciel whacked the back of Yusari's head. "Toughen up and be a man!" He raised a fist in the air. "I say, bad guys, gimme all you got! I'll crush you all to a pulp! Nyehehe!" he cackled.

Yusari rubbed the back of his head. "You're really mean."

"Thanks." Ciel smirked.

"Mavis!" the brown haired boy whined.

"Don't go complain' you crybaby!"

Mavis's nose twitched. "This city feels empty."

"NO JOKE IT DOES!" Ciel shouted, waving his arms around. He then froze, his ears twitched. Ciel's face looked more serious as he held out his arm. A sword appeared. "Somethin's coming," he announced quietly.

"Oh no!" Yusari complained, clutching onto Mavis's dress sleeve. "Not again!"

"Get a hold of yourself you whimp!" Ciel hissed as his eyes darted left to right.

For a moment, there was silence. Then a shout. "Attack, my minions! Show those Crow Nests who's boss!"

From the direction of the voice, there was a rampage of… squirrels?

"Eh? Yusari was confused. "Squirrels?"

"Shoot!" Ciel exclaimed. "Not these things again!" he scowled and held out an arm in front of Mavis. "I got this."

Mavis nodded and smiled. "Go ahead, Ciel-kun."

As soon as Ciel summoned his wings, they disassembled into a bunch of feathers. He held out his palm to the direction of the squirrels. "Feather storm!" he shouted.

The mob of feathers went directly to the mob of squirrels. Squeaking in horror, the squirrels huddled together.

"This is my revenge you stupid squirrels!" Ciel barked.

The feathers now surrounded the squeaking squirrels. They then began… tickling them? Howling with laughter, the squirrels rolled around until one by one, they poofed away. Yusari sweat dropped; Mavis smiled proudly.

"You've fought them before?" the brown haired boy asked.

"You bet I did!" Ciel hissed, reminiscing. "Those stupid squirrels broke my leg! That day, I used up all my magic power _just_ to fly back home!"

Yusari sweat dropped. "Rough… times…"

"You bet it was!" Ciel continued ranting until the mastermind behind the squirrels appeared from behind one of the larger buildings.

Mavis smiled. The mastermind behind the squirrels was a man in his late 20s. He looked at the group of three, shocked.

"You three can't be members of Crow Nest. You're not evilly seductive-looking enough," the man pointed out. "Except for you!" He pointed at Mavis. "You look _fine_."

"You callin' me ugly, you playboy?" Ciel barked.

The man put his arm around Mavis's shoulder. "What do you say we…" He stopped mid-sentence because of a kick inflicted to his thigh. The man looked down. No, it wasn't Ciel. Instead, it was Yusari.

"Get your filthy paws off our guild master!" Yusari shouted, pulling Mavis away.

"She's your guild master? What guild are you? Lamina Scale? Hm?" he challenged.

"We're Fairy Tail," Ciel growled. "Remember that!"

The man stroked a fake beard. "Never heard of it."

"You're Maes Navarro. The man exiled from the dark guild Crow's Nest. Am I correct?" Mavis asked. Her blank eyes were trained on the man.

Yusari perked up. "Oh yeah. I've heard of you. It was because you started working with the Magic Council… right?"

Maes looked down threateningly at the boy. "You sure know a lot for a little boy." He put his hand on Yusari's head, pressing down on it. "You sure are smart." Maes pressed down harder. "Aren't you."

"Hey! Don't press down on my head you weirdo!" Yusari protested, kicking the man again. "Let go of me!"

Mavis put her hand on Maes's arm. She looked up at him, her eyes fluttered to reveal a cold yet innocent looking glare. Maes cringed, back away from the trio. Her glare got colder and colder until Maes ran away, frightened.

"Wow!" Yusari exclaimed in awe. "That was so cool!"

"Feh," Ciel spat. "He wasn't worth out time to begin with."

"Says the one who said nothing but our guild name this whole time," the brown haired boy snorted.

"Shut up," Ciel hissed.

"It's too bad," Mavis sighed sadly. "It would have been nice if he had joined us."

"You're the one who scared him away!" the two boys exclaimed.

"Oh yes. That's right." Mavis smiled.

"Oh, Mavis…" Yusari mumbled, sweat dropping.

**XXXX**

**OwlCookies: I wanna make a time skip of at least a week. But I cant seem to… hrm…**

**CROW'S NEST ISN'T A REAL DARK GUILD AS FAR AS IM CONCERNED BTW!  
><strong>


	4. Interlude: Life Stories

**OwlCookies: this is somewhat of a filler chapter ^.^ an… interlude… somewhat**

**XXXX**

"Ne, Ciel. Whatever happened to you being an assassin?" Yusari asked.

Mavis, Yusari, and Ciel casually walked down the dirt path, journeying to wherever the road took them. Unlike what Mavis had previously thought, Orbea gained them no new members or any way of teaching Yusari how to use magic. In fact, the city was emptied out of all citizens. According to Ciel, who scoped the place out, everything was abandoned and evacuated. They probably left due to a warning from a local guild that a dangerous man was in that city.

Ciel kicked the pebbles in his path, his hands in his pockets. "It's common for assassins to betray their legion. They don't really care anymore. It's not their problem."

"Legion?" Yusari raised an eyebrow.

"Those who decide to leave and even those who chose to betray are sworn to secrecy. I can't tell you more." He kicked another rock.

Mavis looked at him in thought. "That's a good system." Plans for the future guild computed in her mind.

"I guess. Well, what about you two? What's your story?" Ciel looked at the two from kicking rocks. "And yeah, you too, Mavis. All I know is that you use Fairy Magic."

Mavis smiled and shrugged. "I don't remember." Then she frowned. "Things are unclear in my mind."

"Well what about when you and Yusu met?"

"Yusari," the younger boy corrected.

"Yeah. Same tthing." Ciel waved it off.

"No it's not…" he whimpered.

Mavis tapped her chin. "Yusari-kun," she said, "was my first solid memory."

Ciel looked to Yusari.

"A few months ago was when we first met," he began.

~Flashback :)~

"Yu-Sa-Ri!" a group of children teased. "The weak one! The weak one! Yu-Sa-Ri! Can't use ma-gic !Can't use ma-gic!"

Tears ran down the boy's cheeks as he ran away, his hands on his ears as he tried to block out the mocking laughter of the children.

"Yu-Sa-Ri! The short one! The short one! Yu-Sa-Ri! The slow one! The slow one!"

"Stop it! Stop it!" Yusari cried out as the other children pulled at his hair.

"Yu-Sa-Ri! Has no mom! Has no dad!"

"_My parents abandoned me, they all said. No one wanted to foster me. I didn't know why. But because of that, everyone bullied me. Everyone harassed me. Everyone shunned me," Yusari whispered._

The mockery in their sing-song voices made Yusari want to try to run again. Blindly, he ran until he accidentally tripped and fell d own. He cried harder as the laughter was upon him once more. Suddenly, the laughter was replaced by an eerie silence and the screams of terror.

"_That was when I met her."_

Yusari looked up to see a young girl with long blond hair. She smiled radiantly at him even if her eyes looked blank. The girl held out her hand to him.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

Yusari wiped the tears away from his eyes and nodded. "Who are you?"

"My name…" she looked distant. "Is Mavis Vermilion. What is yours?"

"I'm Yusari Arachnis," he replied.

Mavis wrapped her arms around his small body. "Don't cry anymore, Yusari-kun."

~End of Flashback :)~

Ciel whacked Yusari's back. "Yer still the same. But how is it that you were Mavis's first memory?"

Both Mavis and Yusari shrugged. Yusari grinned and wagged his finger at the blue haired boy.

"Maybe that's my magic?" Yusari grinned. He then looked to Mavis. "What _can_ you remember?" After Mavis shrugged, he turned to Ciel. "What can you tell us about your life?"

"All I can say is what I did before I was an assassin. It's not that long though… You still wanna hear it?" Ciel asked.

The other two nodded.

~Flashback XD~

"N-No way! You… You're parents are thieves? THIEF! THIEF! IT'S THE SON OF THIEVES!" a young boy shouted in fear. He ran away, crying to his parents.

Ciel held out his arm. "I… Wait…!" He frowned.

"_Ah, I see. You're insecure. That's why you like to pick on me," Yusari said matter-of-factly._

"_SHUT UP YOU PIPSQUEAK!" Ciel shouted._

"_No, no. It's fine. I understand."_

"_YOU WANNA GO?"_

Ciel leaned against a wall, sitting down and hugging his knees. "I'm gonna be the greatest thief in the world! Then… Then people would pay attention to me!"

"_My mom died the previous year and my dad, after trying to steal something from the Magic Council, he was put in jail."_

There was a little kitten who dared to get near Ciel. He smiled and reached out a hand to pet the kitten. "Hi there little kitty…"

The kitten yowled in fright and sprinted away, leaving Ciel feeling confused and sad. He burrowed his head to his knees, his eyes feeling the burn.

"No…" he mumbled to himself. "Crying is for weak people. That's what mom said… I can't cry…"

"Ciel Conran. Son of Midnight the imprisoned thief and Yusa the now deceased thief. If you agree to our terms, you won't be alone anymore."

Ciel looked up darkly. Standing in front of him was a tall, lean, and muscular man. Everything he wore was black. In his hand, was a beige brief case.

"Who are you? How do you know about me?" Ciel asked quietly.

"We've been watching you."

"SO YOU'RE A STALKER!" Ciel shouted.

The man grabbed the boy's collar and pulled him closer to his face. His warm breath huffed in Ciel's face.

"We are the number one Assassin's Legion. Our name is the Assassin's Creed," the man said. (A/N: im sorry… I had to put tht there. :P video game or not, tht name totally works xD) "If you chose to join us, you won't be alone anymore."

"Why do you care?" Ciel scowled.

"Because you are the son of thieves," the man replied. "You will be useful to us."

"_They used me and yet, I used them."_

"What's your conditions?" Ciel demanded.

"1. If you chose to join us, you will be sworn to secrecy. Whether you abandon us are chose to leave, you may not utter a word about us. 2. You will do as our master says and assassinate the people he says to assassin whether you like it or not. 3. You will do your job _well_. And that is all," the man explained.

Ciel closed his eyes. When he opened it again, his eyes were serious and made up. "I'll join."

~End of Flashback ^.^~

"Well how did you learn magic?" Yusari asked.

"Assassins Creed…" Mavis murmured. "I have heard about that before…"

Ciel kicked a pebble far in front of him. "Owlie taught me. Sometimes, while my mom was away, I would go learn magic from her."

"You learned magic from a real live _owl_?" Yusari gasped.

Ciel conked him on the head. "NO YOU IDIOT! OWLIE'S A HUMAN!"

"Fairies…" Mavis murmured, completely off topic.

The two boys looked to her. "Hmm?"

Mavis pointed off into the distance of the fields near a bush of roses. "Fairies," she repeated.

Yusari's eyes opened wide. "No way!" He tugged on Ciel's shirt. "Look! There's real fairies there! Real fairies! Real fairies!"

Ciel disregarded Yusari's constant tugged and looked at the fairies in awe. "Those are real fairies!" he breathed. "I thought they weren't around anymore!"

"Extinct," Yusari corrected.

"Yeah, whatever."

Mavis, Yusari, and Ciel, laughed as they ran toward the fairies. They fell over each other, giggling as they raced to see who could reach the rose bush first. Once they reached the bush, the laughed out loud as the fairies danced around them. Ciel tried to catch one but it fluttered away, leaving fairy glitter on his face. He tripped. Instead of getting mad, he laughed. Yusari, chasing a group of fairies, tripped over Ciel and began giggling. Together, the romped around, chasing each other with the fairies until the toppled over Mavis who was quietly starring at the fairies who had fluttered to her hand. As she oofed by the impact of both Yusari and Ciel, Mavis began laughing along with them.

Their hearts lifted, they danced around with the fairies until the day ended.

"Fairies," Mavis said.

"Fairy Tail," Ciel added.

"We never got to see if they had tails," Yusari commented.

"Then let this never ending adventure continue." Mavis tilted her head and smiled. "Because that's what Fairy Tail is."

**XXXX**

**OwlCookies: I thought the end was sweet ^.^**


	5. In Hargeon

**OwlCookies: *sqee!* im so happy I got a review B3**

**XXXX**

Mavis stood on the grass, her arms rested at her sides. She smiled as she breathed in the fresh cool air and the scent of grass and dirt. Her long blond hair swayed as the wind blew against it. The sky was brilliant shade of blue with puffy white clouds that littered it. As more wind blew against her, she giggled. The grass swayed along with the wind, tickling her feet. Her eyes swirled with wonder as she looked far out into the distance. The air was clear and the visionary for that day was far. Mavis tilted her head and smiled honestly.

Flying above her, Ciel chased all the birds. Shouting triumphantly when he snatched one. He grinned happily as he looked at the bird. The grin was so big his eyes closed. After awhile, the bird started struggling. Opening his eyes again, Ciel let go of the bird, his arms out stretched. He let gravity make him fall and then he flew up again, feeling the cool air brush against his face.

"Mavis! Yusari!" he called. "You should feel the air up here! It's amazing!"

Yusari looked up at him. His white shirt was grass stained from rolling around the soft grass. He rolled onto his back and watched Ciel as he flew up and down, looking free. Yusari then rolled over to Mavis who began to hover in the air. He frowned. His frown soon turned into a look of surprise.

"If ya can't fly, I'll help you with that," Ciel said, holding onto Yusari.

Together, they flew around. With Ciel's arms hugging Yusari's chest, Yusari spread out his arms and pretended that he was a bird. A big smile was on his face as he felt the wind tickle his face. He breathed in the clean air and looked down at the view. Up in the air, Yusari felt as if he could see _everything_ out in the distance. Below him, the trees and the blades of grass looked so small. He laughed out loud. Then, Mavis reared up behind them. A playful smile was on her face.

"Mavis!" Yusari called, waving to her.

Suddenly, Ciel's arms let go of Yusari. Yusari's heart jumped as he plummeted down. He screamed loudly. Then, right before he crashed to the ground, Ciel's arms were once again his chest. He smirked mischievously.

"Scared of heights, you baby?" he chided.

Yusari was almost driven to tears. "Why the heck did you do that? I could have died!" he ranted, wiping away the tears that had run down his cheeks.

"Wh… Hey! Don't cry! I was joking! Geez. Sorry," Ciel apologized.

The younger boy almost laughed. "Y-You apologized to me? Wow. Ne, I never knew you had it in you!" Yusari teased.

Ciel's grip tensed. "Don't make me drop you again," he threatened.

"I'm sorry!" Yusari apologized desperately.

In front of him, Mavis floated. A concerned look was on her face. "Are you alright, Yusari-kun?" she asked sympathetically.

Sniffing, Yusari nodded. He spread out his arms as Ciel bobbed up and down in the air. "I feel so free up here. It's like I'm a bird!" He giggled. "I'm defying gravity!" Ciel smirked.

"Yer such a little kid," Ciel jeered.

"You're not that much older!" Yusari retorted.

"I'm five years older than you," Ciel remarked.

"Five years of earlier old wrinkling!" Yusari laughed triumphantly.

"You want to repeat that?" Ciel threatened, his grip on Yusari getting looser and looser.

"N-No! Please! Not again!" Yusari shouted horrified.

Accidentally, Ciel let go. "DAG YO!" Ciel exclaimed, terrified. Quickly, he flew down and caught Yusari. His wings disappeared and his fell to the ground, hitting his back against the dirt road. Ciel then rolled onto his side and groaned. Yusari was in his arms, looking very afraid and shocked. He let go of the younger boy, cringing as he sat up.

"I-I'm sorry!" Yusari exclaimed. Holding his arms out to the older boy worriedly. "A-Are you ok? I'm sorry!"

Ciel bit his lip. One eye was scrunched up. He rubbed his back. "Yeah. I'm fine. Sorry for dropping you there."

Yusari relaxed a bit. Mavis was behind them, smiling happily.

"I told you, Yusari-kun. When it counts, Ciel _will_ protect you."

The brown haired boy looked the Ciel who was still rubbing his back in pain. Tears rained down from Yusari's eyes as he cried out. He sniffed and cried. "C-Ciel!" he cried out. His sobbing grew louder and louder until he shouted, "I'm sorry for doubting you!"

Ciel blinked. He looked at Yusari and smiled lightly. "You baby."

Mavis's nose twitched and her eyes opened wider curiously. "Hm?" she asked herself. Her nose twitched again. Mavis walked to the source of what she smelled. Quicker and quicker she walked. "There's something here," she said, motioning for Yusari and Ciel to follow.

She seemed to be leading them further down the path. The closer they seemed to get, the more Mavis's noise twitched. And now, Ciel's ears twitched ever so often. Yusari watched, looking at them weirdly.

"Ne, so… do all mage's have some body part twitch every time they sense something?" he asked, still looking at them weirdly.

"Probably not," Ciel replied.

They stopped at a city. The signs all over told them that they were in Hargeon. It was a port city. But Mavis didn't stop there; she continued walking until she stopped at a building. "Here it is," she announced.

Yusari perked up as he felt the magic power radiating from inside the building. "Oh. I feel it. Is that a good thing? Do you think whoever it is will teach me magic?" he asked hopefully.

Mavis turned around. "Probably not."

A sweat drop appeared at the back of Yusari's head. "I'll take your word for it then, I guess." He looked up at the sign. "H-Hey. This is a medical clinic," he pointed out, pointing to the sign. _Hargeon Clinic._

Ciel cocked his head. "The mage is a healer?"

"Maybe they are injured?" Mavis suggested, shrugged.

They entered the building to see a girl, around the age of 16, sitting on the counter, kicking her feet around. She looked irritated. The girl had that same dark blue hair hue that Ciel had. Only her hair was straight, and slicked back. Unlike most girls and like Mavis, her hair was short. But it was long enough to be put in pigtails that reached her shoulders. The girl wore a yellow shirt with a white waist coat with light blue jeans. Her eyes were blue with irritation.

"I _told_ you!" she shouted to someone behind the desk. "I'm not going to heal these people for free!" The girl rolled her eyes as the man behind the counter insisted. "No. No. _No_."

"What a snob," Ciel said instantly.

"Look who's talking!" Yusari remarked.

Mavis walked up to the girl. She held a wad of jewels in her hand. Smiling, she handed the wad of jewels to the girl. "Will this cover the cost?"

"H-Hey! Mavis! Where'd you get all that money from?" Ciel exclaimed.

"I have always had it," she replied, turning around to face him.

Yusari grinned as he faced Ciel's direction with his hands behind his head. "Mavis saves her money for the needy," he told him matter-of-factly.

"Don't be a smarty pants, shrimp," Ciel growled.

The brown haired boy waved his arms around. "You wanna go?" he scowled.

Narrowing her eyes, the girl hopped down from the counter and leaned down to Mavis's height. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I want to pay so you can heal those who are injured," Mavis replied plainly with a smile. "Is that alright with you?"

The girl snatched the wad of jewels from Mavis's hand and counted them. "5,000 jewels? That's all you got, girlie?" she asked, obviously unsatisfied with the amount.

"That is all I can give you. The rest I am saving for building the guild," Mavis told her honestly. Then she frowned. "Are you not satisfied with the amount?"

"Tch. What's a little girl like you doing, going around paying for people you don't even know?" The girl eyed Mavis. "But I suppose this is a decent amount."

"What are you talking about?" Yusari shouted angrily. "You're a mage that heals people? Right? Then isn't using your magic power for the good of others the best payment you can get?" He jumped up high enough so he could snatch the jewels from the girl's hand. Then he grabbed Ciel and Mavis's arms and began dragging them away. "Why are we still here? She's a jerk."

Mavis smiled at Yusari. "You said that about Ciel."

Yusari's faced flushed with embarrassment. "H-He's different."

Outside, Yusari jumped up and down, punching the air angrily. "Why'd you do that, Mavis? She's a jerk? I wouldn't give her that amount of jewels even if it meant my life!"

Ciel conked him on the head causing the young boy to collapse on the ground, whining. "Mavis was doing that not for that chick. She was doin' it for the sick and injured!"

Yusari jumped up and down again, continuing to punch the air. "I'd rather give those sick and injured patients _my_ life than give money to her!"

"Sheesh, you really hate'er, dontcha." Ciel backed away surprised.

Mavis put her hand on Yusari's shoulder, calming him down. She smiled wearily. "No, he is probably right, Ciel."

"What? You serious?" Ciel asked in disbelief.

Mavis nodded. "Shame though, she would have made an excellent member to our guild." She frowned.

"You say that for _all_ the punks," Ciel sighed.

"We're not gaining any new member," Yusari whimpered. "It's been days!"

"It's been at least a week," the blue haired boy remarked.

"Same thing! 7 days!"

Mavis's nose twitched. "That's strange. There are more magic users here than I anticipated." She pointed in the direction of the port. Without consent, she began walking in the direction she pointed. "For a city that's trade is mainly based off fishing and trading," Mavis explained, "it's strange for this city to have this large of a magic population."

"You've only sensed two people. That's not a lot," Yusari pointed out.

Ciel's ears twitched. "No…" he mumbled, spinning around. "There's a _lot_ more."

Mavis nodded in agreement. "Normally, there are a lot more fishermen than mages."

Yusari hummed. He felt the magic all around him. "Actually, I don't think it's the people in this town. I think it's the town in general. I can feel magic pulsing from the ground." He crouched down and felt the ground. "It feels like a strong magic energy down here."

Mavis's nose twitched as she too bent down and placed her hand to the earth. "Yes, you're right, Yusari-kun. I can feel it too."

Ciel bent down on his knees and felt the ground. His ears twitched. His eyes opened wide in fright. Yusari looked at his alarm. Mavis gasped. Quickly, she sprang to her feet and grabbed the two boys. Just in time, actually. Right where they had just previously been, a large whole now gaped. Some dust and bits of gravel fell down into the hole. Yusari held onto Mavis in fright.

Out of the hole, a rather _fat_ man rose from the ground. A podium was beneath him, making him get higher and higher into the air until he was high enough to block the sun from the 3 children's eyes. He looked down on them smugly.

"Ah, you three there. I see you've sensed my magic power. It's so large it has been raining graciously down upon this small town." His smug grin widened. He raised his arms to make it look like he was about to do a magic trick. "Now it seems that I've shared my magic to a large portion of this city. But, of course," he flattered, "I'm not one to share. I'd like my magic power back. By killing everyone here, the magic power implanted in them will rise back to _me_." He held out a hand to them. "Hello children. My name is Raymond F. Lily. A pleasure to meet you."

Yusari punched the air, frustrated. "Oh, so the townspeople here get to use magic and _I_ can't?" he complained, now pouting. "_Not cool!"_

Mavis smiled. "You will learn on your own time," she told him.

Yusari scrunched up his face, sighed, and then gave up. "I can't wait until then…"

"66.66 repeated percent of you can use magic while 33.33 repeated cannot?" Raymond's face turned into a twisted and wicked grin. "Lovely, lovely." Raymond pointed to Yusari. A vine covered in thorns broke out from the asphalt beneath them and wrapped itself around Yusari.

"AAHHH!" Yusari howled in pain.

"Yusari!" Ciel and Mavis exclaimed, horrified.

Raymond chuckled heartily. "Oh yes." He cupped his hand around his ear and leaned toward the three. "The sound of excruciating pain is music to my ears!" He smirked as he looked down at them. "You have 1 hour. In that hour, those vines will slowly crush that boy until he is nothing but a bloody mess. Be happy he's a scrawny young boy. It won't be as painful."

"SH-SHUT UP!" Yusari screamed.

The older man laughed again. He tapped his wrist. "Time is ticking. The only way to get those vines off of him is to defeat me. Nothing can save him except for my defeat. Unfortunately though, that magic cannot work on real mages." He faked a frown. But then he began cackling once more. "PERISH YOU LITTLE BRATS!"

Mavis seemed to now glow with rage. She narrowed her eyes with anger and held her hand out. "Gather! O river of light that guides the fairies! Shine! In order to perish the fangs of evil! Fairy glitter."

**XXXX**

**OwlCookies: ahahahaha! Mwahahah! Nyeeheheh! I liked the beginning and ending of this ^.^ the middle sucked. I didn't like typing about tht girl(who is unnamed). Shes a snobby winry type. I don't like her. But… I had to add her because my other idea didn't get me very far…**

**oh yeah, and cookies to whoever can guess what the "f" in Raymond F. Lily stand for! (and cupcakes to whoever actually tries guessing... ,_,")**

**hint: Alfred F. Jones  
><strong>


	6. Raymond

**Previously:**

_Raymond pointed to Yusari. A vine covered in thorns broke out from the asphalt beneath them and wrapped itself around Yusari._

"_AAHHH!" Yusari howled in pain._

"_Yusari!" Ciel and Mavis exclaimed, horrified._

…

_The older man laughed again. He tapped his wrist. "Time is ticking..."_

…

"_PERISH YOU LITTLE BRATS!"_

_Mavis seemed to now glow with rage. She narrowed her eyes with anger and held her hand out. "Gather! O river of light that guides the fairies! Shine! In order to perish the fangs of evil! Fairy glitter."_

XXXX

Mavis's arm began glowing.

"Th-The light! It's incredible!" Ciel whispered to himself in awe, shielding his eyes from the light.

All the swirling light around Mavis's arm gathered and shot itself at Raymond. "BEGONE!" It began swirling around the older wizard until he was completely enveloped in it. A big burst occurred. When everything cleared, Raymond was gone from the podium, but now he was standing next to the hole! "I-Impossible!" Mavis gasped. She felt light headed now. "My magic power…" she whispered. Then she collapsed.

"Mavis!" Ciel shouted. Seeing now that both Mavis and Yusari were passed out, he growled angrily.

"That was Fairy Glitter? My, that was powerful. They say Fairy Glitter concentrated the light of the sun, moon, and stars into that one attack. No wonder the girl passed out, it must have taken and enormous amount of magic power to wield such an attack. But now matter, it only hit my clone. I'm still fine." Raymond smiled wickedly. "66.66 repeating percent down. 33.33 repeating to do."

In Ciel's hand appeared his sword. His golden eyes were filled with rage. "SCREW YOU FOR HURTING MY FRIENDS!" he shouted, infuriated. Ciel summoned his wings and charged at the older man. "DANCE OF THE OWL'S TALONS!"

Raymond watched as the younger boy seemed to take the form of two and his blade seemed to multiply. Quickly, both images of the boy and all the blades attacked at Raymond in a flurry. In a flash, Raymond reared up behind the boy and kicked the back of his legs. Ciel's legs buckled and he lost balance. But his wings regained them. It was a bit too late though, for Raymond grabbed Ciel's head.

"I'll be taking some of your magic power thank you." Raymond cackled.

Scowling, Ciel quickly slashed at the older man's arm. "GET YER FILTHY HANDS OFF MY HEAD!"

Raymond howled in pain as Ciel's blade severed his forearm down to his bone. Tears welled up at the corner of the man's eyes as he looked at the young boy who was powered by rage. "It's not use!" he laughed out, crying in pain at the same time. "You lack experience!"

"Tch." Ciel spat at the man. He raised the arm not holding his sword. "By order of the Assassin's Creed. I summon upon thee to shelter me from the light of this day. Darkness!" In a swirl of shadows, Ciel disappeared.

Raymond's head jerk backward as he looked for where the boy disappeared too. He smugly smirked. "An invisible little boy," he laughed. "A classic assassin trick." Raymond cringed as he felt Ciel's blade strike at him in random directions. His thigh, he forearm, his neck. "But I know where you are, young assassin." He reached in front of him and squeezed hard on what he had grabbed.

Ciel cried out in pain as he appeared visible again. Raymond's hand, larger and meaty, squeezed harder on the boy's head, slowly crushing his skull. He laughed wickedly. "FEEL PAIN AND SUFFER!" Raymond laughed.

"AARRGGG!" Ciel cried out. "YOU… JERK! LET GO OF MY HEAD!" Ciel screamed, kicking the older man in the stomach.

Shocked for a moment, Raymond let go of the boys head long enough for Ciel to retreat back down to the ground. Raymond held out his hand and a vine, covered with thorns of all sizes and flowers that looked as sharp as blades appeared from near the podium.

"GATE OF THE MAD DOG! I OPEN THEE!" a voice shouted.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ciel saw a flash of light. From that flash of light, a bristling black wolf with red eyes appear. It snarled at Raymond and quickly intercepted the vines, crushing it with its razor-sharp fangs.

"Get that man, Lupus!" a voice shouted.

The wolf, named Lupus, obeyed. Charging quickly at Raymond. As the large man shot out vines, thorns, and deadly sharp-looking flowers, the wolf dodged them, instead using the large ones as a spring to get closer to Raymond. It growled and then bit his neck, crunching down hard until blood spluttered out of his neck, splattering the wolf and Raymond's face and clothes. Lupus backed away when he was sure the older man was dead. At the same time, the vines wrapped around Yusari released the boy. Yusari collapsed to the ground, moaning in pain.

"Mavis… Yusari…" Ciel groaned in pain. He lay on his back, the blue sky above him spinning around and making him dizzy. Drool… or maybe it was blood, dribbled down the edge of his mouth. The boy who had saved them, ran to their aid.

"Stay here! I'll go get help!" he exclaimed, panicking.

Ciel closed his eyes and smirked before he faded out. _How do you think we're going to move?_

When Yusari woke, the first thing he realized what that he was no longer entwined with Raymond's vicious vines. He sat up, cringing in pain. Actually, why didn't he feel any pain? All he felt was a dull throbbing feeling all over his body. His eyes darted around and realized that he was in a hospital. Yusari then dared to move his head, there was slight crick, but it wasn't painful.

"Ciel?" he asked with a scratchy voice. "Mavis?"

Mavis was in the bed next to his. She was sitting up, frowning sadly. A tear rolled down her cheek.

"Mavis… why are you crying?" Yusari asked.

The blond girl looked at him. Another tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm sorry…" she mumbled. "I couldn't protect you and Ciel. Now you are both injured."

"Huh? That's what you're worried about? Don't worry about it, Mavis. There was nothing you could have done anyway," Yusari reassured.

Mavis wiped away her tears and smiled weakly. "Thank you."

"YYEEOOWW!" In the bed next to Mavis was Ciel. He had just woken up by the looks of it. Ciel had jumped out of bed and was now standing, clutching his head. "Hey. Why doesn't anything hurt?" he asked out loud, poking his head.

Mavis smiled at him.

Just then, a boy, who looked very similar to the healing-type mage, came in. He looked _really_ similar to that girl. The same Ciel-colored hair that was slicked back and straight. The same blue eyes, the same eye shape, face shape, skin color. Only, he looked nicer. His blue hair looked plastered on his head. It was a bit long but shorter than Yusari's. The boy's bangs were messily tossed around and a bit of sweat made it stick to his forehead. There was also two tufts of hair sticking out like a cowlick. He smiled as he saw the three.

"You guys are awake already? Nee-chan's healing magic must be really improving, then," he cheerfully said. The boy scratched the back of his head. "I'm the one who saved you guys. I'm Jin Lane. Nice to meet you all."

"Hey, are you that girl's sister? That… That girl who's a real jerk?" Yusari asked bluntly.

Jin sweat dropped. "Yeah… A lot of people call her a jerk. But she's really nice once you get to know her."

Yusari shot a looked to Ciel who scowled in return. The brown haired boy sweat dropped. "She's the one who healed us?"

Jin nodded happily. "She didn't want to, because she saw you." Ciel glared at Yusari. "But I told her that if she didn't heal you guys, I'd run away back to the forest where she would never find me and all the forest animals would get mad at her." He sweat dropped. "And it's not pretty when forest animals get mad." Jin then fell to the ground, pounding his fist on the floor, mumbling while dark lines came across him. "I remember that last time…"

"H-Hey now…" Yusari attempted to get him to stand up.

Whether he did that or not, Jin stood back up, grinning as if nothing had happened just then. He wore a light blue long sleeve shirt with dark blue sleeves rolled up to his shoulders. His pants, tan, with multiple pockets and rips, were rolled up to below his knees. He also wore black combat boots that reached an inch below his pants. On his hip was a beige fanny pack that hung loosely around him. And on his neck, he wore a silver necklace with a silver key attached to it. By the looks of it, it seemed to be one of the celestial gate keys.

"You are a celestial mage, am I correct?" Mavis asked Jin, tilting her head and looking curious.

The blue haired boy nodded and fingered the silver key around his neck. "This one around my neck was that wolf you saw, Lupus. He makes me feel safe so I keep his key around my neck. I have a lot of other keys, they're in here." Jin patted his fanny pack.

"Wow… that's so cool!" Yusari exclaimed. The throbbing feeling he had felt earlier now disappeared to nothing. Ciel probably felt the same effect for he raised a fist in the air.

"I feel like a new man!" I shouted in excitement.

Yusari turned away and chuckled mischievously. "Like you _are_ a man."

"What was that?" Ciel scowled. "You wanna say that again you runt?"

"So, what are about you guys?" Jin asked with a friendly smile.

"I'm Mavis Vermilion. These are my friends, Yusari Archnis," Mavis said pointing to Yusari, "and he's Ciel Conran." She pointed to Ciel. "We're traveling around Fiore looking for more people to join our guild, Fairy Tail," Mavis explained. "Would you like to join us?"

Ciel scowled. "You gave _him_ a friendly invitation?"

"Don't forget that it was _you_ who was trying to kill Mavis," Yusari jeered. "Yet she still asked you."

The former assassin cracked his knuckles, ready to punch the younger boy. "You wanna go?"

Yusari placed his hand in front of his eye brows, pretending to look around. "Go where?"

Ciel walked up to the boy and whacked his head. "Go down," he hissed.

Painfully, Yusari sat back up after being whacked down. He rubbed the bump that was now growing on his head. "Stop hitting me!"

Jin looked at the trio. "What's a guild?" he asked innocently.

"Eh?" Ciel asked. "You seriously don't know?" Jin shook his head.

"A guild is a place where magicians of all kinds come together and form an alliance with each other. They are all friends, even if they argue a lot," Mavis explained, looking at Yusari and Ciel. "In a guild, the mage can take jobs, requested by other people who need a magic user's help, to gain money or to have more experience." He tilted her head. "It's a fun place."

Yusari gave Jin a thumbs up. "So technically, we're a metaphoric family!"

Jin shook his head. "No, I can't. I have an obligation to my sister. And even if I did want to join, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't want too."

Mavis frowned. "Shame, you would have been an excellent mage for Fairy Tail."

Yusari and Ciel sweat dropped. "You say that for _everyone_."

Jin chuckled. "Yeah, I'm sure I would have." He shoved his hands in two of the many pockets he had. "It sounds like fun, but I'll stay here."

The brown haired boy frowned along with Mavis. "You're nice. Too bad you chose to stay here." He then looked out the window. A pigeon flew by. "Maybe we'll find more nice people along the way."

"Hey now… don't go along and make me feel guilty," he chuckled.

"Ne, how old are you anyway?" Yusari asked.

"I'm 16," the oldest boy replied. "Willa and I are twins."

"Huh… You're weird," the brown haired boy said bluntly.

Again, Jin collapsed to the ground, pounding his fist against the floor, mumbling darkly as dark lines came across him. "Willa was right… Everyone thinks I'm weird… I'm a failure…"

Yusari tilted his head and smiled honestly.

Ciel stood up and stretched. "Then we should probably get going. Hey, where's yer sister? We should probably thank her."

Mavis and Yusari stood up with him. They bowed to Jin. "Thank you for saving us."

Jin nodded and pointed to the exit. "She's out there," he replied. "And, no problem. It's instinct for one to save someone in need."

Mavis, Yusari, and Ciel walked out to where Jin pointed. His sister leaned against the wall, looking down darkly. She held a red lollipop lightly in her hand close to her mouth which hung slightly open. The three of them bowed to her.

"Thank you for healing us," they thanked.

Willa looked up. She looked completely drained as she nodded. As soon as the Fairy Tail members left, Willa looked to Jin.

"It doesn't matter to me whether you join their caravan or not," she said. "You can leave me here."

Jin walked to her. "Lupa would get mad at me if I did," he said, placing a hand on her arm. "What's up with you?"

"I can sense it," Willa replied. "It's Lupa."

"What's wrong with Lupa? You shouldn't worry about her too much. You know how she is."

"No!" Willa pushed him away, looking desperate. Her pupils trembled. "It's the forest. The forest seems corrupted. Go join those three. They're heading in that direction."

"But Willa… what about you?" Jin asked worriedly.

"Don't worry about me." Willa narrowed her eyes. "That man you thought Lupus killed, he's still alive. You saw him make a clone. That blond girl used up all her magic power to destroy a _clone_. You need to find the real Raymond. He's hidden in the forest somewhere and Lupa's there."

"I told you, Lupa wouldn't want us protecting her. She told us that she would rather die alone anyway," Jin said.

"It's not Lupa. No, I know she's capable of handling herself. But it's those three and that little boy. The boy that can't use magic. Raymond will use that boy against his friends and this will all end up in chaos again. The wounds inflicted on them almost drained me out of my magic. I don't have that much magic power in me and you know it." Willa's eyes narrowed some more. "Use Leo. He'll do the job right."

"Why not Lupus?" Jin asked, frowning.

"Do as I say!" Willa scowled.

The blue haired boy looked down. "Alright."

**XXXX**

**OwlCookies: danger is brewing :D**

**I'm seriously thinking of bumping up the rating for this fic... i feel like the fight scenes are getting graphic... should i?  
><strong>


	7. Spiders

Yusari bounded in front of his two friends, skipping along happily. He hummed a small tune to himself as he skipped down the dirt road leading out of Hargeon. A smile was on his face.

"What's gotten into you? Yer unnaturally happy today. Do I need to hit you to get you back to normal?" Ciel asked, smirking as he cracked his knuckles.

"No!" Yusari squeaked, horrified. "It's just that, today feels like a good day!"

Mavis looked up. "Every day is a good day. It is just what you make it out to be," she pointed out, smiling at Yusari's happiness.

Ciel cracked his knuckles again. "Which brings us back to square one!"

Yusari stopped skipping right before he took a step into the forest. Mavis and Ciel bumped into him.

"Hey!" Ciel exclaimed. "What gives?"

"Yusari-kun," Mavis said lightly. "Are you afraid of the forest?"

Yusari shook his head. "No. But, I feel something here. Like, something's coming." He took a step in. That was when Mavis's nose began twitching.

"Something is nearby," she commented.

"Not another bad guy!" Yusari whined, clinging onto Mavis's dress.

The bushes in front of them rustled. Yusari's heart thumped rapidly in his chest. The rustled stopped when a figure, masked in shadows popped out.

"YYYAAA!" Yusari squeaked in horror.

The shadows revealed the figure. It was a female white wolf. Her pelt was covered with leaves and she looked injured. Yusari noticed the slight limp as the wolf barely put any pressure to her front right paw. Her nose twitched as she sniffed them.

"You have the remains of Willa's magic," the wolf said with an unnaturally low voice for a female.

"KYAAA! A TALKING WOLF!" Yusari shouted, shocked. He hid behind Mavis, trembling.

The she-wolf hissed. "Silence!" she ordered. "Do not disturb the peace of this forest."

"I am sorry," Mavis apologized. "But we thought you were someone of evil."

"N-No, Mavis," Yusari whimpered. "It's not her. It's something else in the forest. I can feel it." He trembled, now clutching her dress tightly.

The wolf made a sound that the three took to be a laughing sound. "Nothing can harm me. I am Lupa. The mother of all wolves."

"Never heard of you," Ciel said. He stepped forward but decided against it as Lupa advanced toward him, growling.

"To enter this forest, you must learn respect. Those who are weak and cannot survive may not enter," she growled, looking at Yusari with a threatening manner.

Yusari looked down. Mavis's nose twitched again. "Yusari, what do you sense?" she asked, alert.

The brown haired boy looked up in thought. He then paused. His eyes shot open wide as his pupils trembled. "No way…" he mumbled. "It can't be…" Yusari let go of Mavis and stepped closer to the forest, disregarding Lupa's warning. Quickly, he touched a nearby rosemary. He withdrew his hand to see blood seeping from his index finger. "It's… It's Raymond!" he exclaimed in fright.

"What?" Ciel asked. "Didn't Jin kill him?"

Mavis closed her eyes. Her nose twitched.

"I can feel it. I know how his magic power feels like. That rosemary, it purposely pricked my finger to hurt me. That's Raymond's magic. He controls the flows and vines of the earth," Yusari said. His heart raced again. "I-I don't want to go through those vines again. It hurt. I don't like it," he whimpered.

Mavis's nose twitched again. She opened her eyes and looked left. "He is near here."

Yusari's body now trembled violently in fear. Tears welled up at the edges of his eyes. He sniffed.

Lupa growled at him. "Weak!" she spat. "Those who are weak must die!" She lunged at him, claw outstretched and fangs bearing.

The boy screamed, terrified, as he rolled away from the wolf. He was alert as his body pumped with adrenaline. His heart beat rapidly. But all he thought of was avoiding the claws and jaws of the she-wolf. Once or twice, Lupa got close enough to scratch him a bit, but Yusari quickly rolled away.

"Yusari!" Mavis called.

Lupa turned to Mavis and growled. "Stay out of this, girl."

Mavis cringed but did as she was told. Yusari took advantage of that to throw a stone at her. As much of an effort as he had put in to it, Lupa felt the stone as if it were a fly.

"You stupid wolf!" Ciel scowled angrily. "DON'T HURT YUSARI! THAT'S _MY_ JOB! GET YER OWN RUNT TO PICK ON!" he shouted.

Lupa glanced at Ciel and hissed. "Disrespectful boy. I shall deal with you later."

Yusari threw another rock at the wolf. His eyes were now trembling with fear.

"Stupid boy!" Lupa screeched, lunging at Yusari again.

The boy was taken by surprise. Lupa jumped at him as bit his shoulder. Yusari howled in pain, tears running down his eyes as he felt his blood leave his body the harder Lupa bit down.

"LET GO OF ME!" Yusari screamed, terrified, as he continually kicked the wolf. He coughed and spluttered as he now choked on his own blood. "AAARRRHHH!" he screamed.

Not realizing what he was doing as he screamed in pain and terror, Yusari grabbed the she-wolf's head. Soon, little insects seemed to be crawling around her head. Cobwebs then began making a cocoon around her. Lupa, now blinded, screeched in frustration.

"What is this?" she screeched.

Spiders seemed to come out of nowhere. They began biting and pricking at the wolf. Lupa tried shaking them off, but they clung on with their cobwebs. More and more spiders appeared. Lupa's head was now enveloped in spiders. She howled and ran off as the spiders now seeped into her mouth.

Panting hard, Yusari's eyes were open wide in shock. With his good arm, he pointed to himself in disbelief.

"D… Did _I _do that?" he asked, not sure of anything at the moment.

Mavis and Ciel smiled down at him. Yusari smiled back, attempted to stand back up. But as he did so, he cringed. Blood was still seeping out from his wound. Curiously, he looked at his hand. He placed it on his wound, whimpering in pain. But soon, his shoulder was covered with the cobwebs that were now catching his blood. Yusari looked back up and smiled.

"I can use magic now!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Mavis wrapped her arms around the boy carefully and gently, and then she hugged him. "I am proud of you, Yusari-kun."

"Good for you, runt. Now Raymond won't be able to use his vines on you," Ciel said, smirking.

Even if the older boy _did_ criticize him, Yusari smiled at him happily.

Clapping was heard above them. The ground shook and a few meters behind Ciel, a familiarly large podium rose from the ground. Raymond F. Lily was back.

"You thought you defeated me?" Raymond laughed. "Think again, kiddies." He crossed his arms, smugly. "Have you never noticed? Have you never realized that I have made a clone? But be happy. I shall fight you three myself." Mavis raised her arm but Raymond wagged his finger at her. "I wouldn't try that Fairy Glitter again." Looking annoyed, Mavis lowered her arm. "Good girl."

The ground shook underneath them and a bought of thorny vines appeared, slashing at the three. Yusari howled in pain as one of the thorns lodged itself in his shoulder. He fell to knees, clutching his shoulder.

"33.33 repeating percent is down," Raymond chuckled.

"NO ONE CARES ABOUT MATH!" Yusari shouted. (algebra is soo hard DX) He placed his hands on the ground. Instantly, thousands of different kinds of spiders crawled up the podium and began surrounding the fat man. "Get wrapped up like a dead mummy!" he scowled. The spiders swirled around him, cocooning the man with cobwebs.

Raymond chuckled. "The beautiful thing about spiders," he laughed. "Is that they are easy to squash. Like you, children." He kicked away a portion of the spiders and attempted ripping the cobwebs apart from his legs. When that didn't work, he brought up multiple vines from the ground, pushed away the spiders, and shredded the cobwebs as if they were nothing but mere paper. Yusari trembled, feeling defeated.

"Ciel-kun." Mavis looked at Ciel. "May I use your feathers?" she asked.

The blue haired boy smirked and nodded. "Sure thing."

Mavis took a hold of Ciel's hand. She pointed both of the hands at Raymond. "Unison raid!" they shouted.

A blast of light and blade-like feathers shot itself at Raymond. As the light enveloped the man, Ciel's feathers stabbed at him. Then, Mavis's light burned brightly. Raymond screamed in pain as he felt Mavis's light burn his skin. Once everything disappeared, the man was covered in scars and 3rd degree burns. He panted. Now, keeping balance took a large majority of his energy. Raymond wobbled, toppled over, and then disappeared.

"No way!" Yusari shouted, angrily. "That was another clone!"

More trembling was felt beneath them. Numerous amounts of sharp vines popped out from the ground underneath them. It tossed them up. In an effort to not fall back down, Ciel summoned his wings and caught Yusari while Mavis's hovered next to him.

"Where's that jerk?" Ciel scowled angrily. "Lemme at 'im! I'll beat his pompous face down to the ground HARD!"

Yusari looked at Mavis who seemed to be lost in thought. Then he looked ahead of him. "Why do you think, he stand on that podium?" he asked Mavis and Ciel. "He's always there except for that one time where he stood next to it."

Mavis cocked her head in thought. "I do not know."

The brown haired boy chewed on his lip in thought. "Hrm…"

With Yusari in Ciel's arms, Mavis and Ciel flew over the forest, searching for any sign of where the real Raymond was. As they did that, Yusari fidgeted in Ciel's arms, looking all around as if ants were not only in his pants, but also in his shirt.

"Stop moving around!" Ciel commanded. "If you do, I'll drop you and I can't assure you it'll be accidentally."

Yusari continued fidgeting, not focused on Ciel's threat at all. Mavis looked at the boy thoughtfully. Then, her nose twitched. She pointed to the eastern end of the forest. "I believe that Raymond is hiding over there."

They headed over there. Once they arrived to the place Mavis pointed to, they lightly landed on the ground. There was a podium already standing there with a waiting Raymond. He smirked, breaking his bored-look spell.

"That took a long time," he snorted. "No matter… Are you ready for more?"

Yusari walked a step away from Ciel. "Let me handle this," he told the other two. "I think I get it."

Raymond raised an eyebrow at him. "What are you thinking, runt?" he cackled wickedly.

As provoking as Raymond was, Yusari looked at him, all expressions wiped out from his face. "You're severely injured, aren't you? But because of Lupa, you're still able to stand. You're using Lupa as a puppet." Yusari clenched his fists. "You're the leader of this town, aren't you?"

It started as a light chuckle. But it quickly grew into loud and booming laughter. "You're a smart boy. What gave it all away?"

Yusari held up a finger. "You mentioned the townspeople at our first encounter. Saying that your magic power was so large, it rained down upon Hargeon. But then I thought, why didn't the animals in this forest have magic? You were here in the forest for quite some time and yet, all the animals I saw were normal. And yes, it _is_ possible for animals to contain magic power. All living things can." He held up another finger. "Why would attack a group of random travelers. And why didn't you attack them right as they entered the city? Why wait until after they socialized with one of townspeople? Which brings me to number 3." A third finger joined the other two. "After we left the clinic, I heard a faint whisper from Jin and Willa. They were talking about Lupa. Then we came to this forest where Lupa told Ciel that he was disrespectful. Knowing you, I doubt you would have respected her. So why were you in the forest?" Yusari put his hand down. "Lupa works under you. If we hadn't gone to that clinic and talked to Willa, you wouldn't have attacked us. Why is that? It's because Willa and Jin, good people, might try to leak information to travelers who knew nothing about this port town of Hargeon," Yusari explained. "You tried to kill _us_ so we wouldn't figure out your true motive. This town isn't a town. It's a dark guild isn't it? Hargeon, the dark fisherman's guild."

Raymond cackled again, clapping his hands. "Good job, little boy! You're smarter than I first anticipated. It's true, Jin and Willow, they were raised by Lupa the wolf herself. Then I came along. I told those two children that I would help them if they joined my guild. Lupa, Jin, and Willa all agreed to my terms. So yes, I am the guild master of this dark guild. Each and every single of these townspeople here are part of my guild." He held up his left hand to show a golden fish stamp. "And this is our insignia."

"I see," Mavis said. "That is why Willa refused to heal those people without being paid. She didn't want to heal them, but because she knew that you would become angry with her, Willa accepted the jewels I had to heal them, finding it as something to add to her character."

Raymond smirked. "Now you're getting it."

Yusari stepped forward. "But that's not all. Your healthy form is an illusion." As he said that, the image in front of Mavis, Ciel, and Yusari, shattered. Instead of the fat man they had previously seen, they now saw an old, skinny and frail man who had multiple burns and scars with spiders crawling all over his body.

Mavis and Ciel gasped.

"You are an exceptionally smart boy. My time is running out because of you, though. So, I'll have to eliminate you all here and now." The old man raised his arms to his hips. As the ground shook, his podium disappeared and he fell to the ground looking very stiff. "With the last of my lifeline and magic, I will destroy those who stand in my path."

"_Leo! Now's your chance!"_

**XXX**

**OwlCookies: leo? Who's leo? Hehehe I wonder *evil grin***


	8. Because of Lupa

**OwlCookies: if I DO bump up the rating… I wonder if I can start making these characters cus?**

**oh yeah. and to "chicken didnt cross the road" u get cookies and cupcakes! cuz ur the only one who cared to guess and u guessed it rite. congrats. *holds up a bowl of cookies and cupcakes* take ur prize ^.^**

**plz review? plz? i dont kno how im doing with this story and id really like feedback... :(  
><strong>

**XXXX**

**Previously:**

_Yusari stepped forward. "But that's not all. Your healthy form is an illusion." As he said that, the image in front of Mavis, Ciel, and Yusari, shattered. Instead of the fat man they had previously seen, they now saw an old, skinny and frail man who had multiple burns and scars with spiders crawling all over his body._

_Mavis and Ciel gasped._

_"You are an exceptionally smart boy. My time is running out because of you, though. So, I'll have to eliminate you all here and now." The old man raised his arms to his hips. As the ground shook, his podium disappeared and he fell to the ground looking very stiff. "With the last of my lifeline and magic, I will destroy those who stand in my path."_

"Leo! Now's your chance!"

XXXX

A man, wearing a black suit with the jacket unbuttoned and the loose pants held up by a light colored belt over his white shirt with a red tie around his neck, stood in front of Raymond. He orange mane-like hair waved in the wind. His fist, held up, had a ring. The man's hands began glowing.

"O Regulus… grant me your strength!" he mumbled. As soon as he did, Yusari felt a strong magic presence come across the man.

Both of his hands glowed now as he ran to the older man, punching and kicking him in a melee.

"Regulus punch!" he shouted, punching Raymond.

With an oof, Raymond was punched far off, crashing into tree in the process. Jin ran up to the strange orange haired man, a smile on his face.

"Good job, Leo!" The orange haired man, Leo, smirked in response.

Leo looked around and saw Mavis. He smirked seducingly. "Well would you look at that." He walked up to Mavis.

Yusari kicked his leg. "Savior or not, don't you dare try flirting with Mavis!"

Before Leo could respond, the ground below them began shaking. A complete maze of weeds, vines, flowers, and thorns separated them into groups. Realizing this, Yusari tried breaking through the walls of the maze. He scraped his hands on the thorns of the rose bush.

"Darn it," he growled.

Turning around, he saw that he was alone with Mavis. If he saw the walls of this maze right, Ciel would be on his own and Leo and Jin would be together. Yusari then looked at Mavis. She was looking up. Her eyes told him that she had blacked out again.

"Mavis!" he exclaimed. "Now's not a good time!" Gulping, Yusari raised his arm. He really didn't want to do this, but since it was proven to be the fastest thing to reawaken Mavis, he had to try. Swallowing his spit regretfully, Yusari slapped Mavis. "I'm sorry!" he apologized.

Jumping up in surprise, Mavis cupped her cheek. "Ow…" she muttered. Yusari sighed in relief.

He looked up at the sky with Mavis. "How high up do you think it goes?" he asked her.

She held her hand out to him and smiled her blank smile. "Let's find out."

Sweat dropping, Yusari grabbed her hand. Mavis pulled him onto her back. Then, they took off to the sky. It took awhile, but they finally reached the top. When Yusari looked down, he almost fainted. This was the highest Mavis or Ciel had ever taken him. Judging by how small everything looked on the ground, he would assume that they were at least half a mile into the sky. Yusari hoped that Mavis had enough strength to not drop him.

"Ciel-kun," Mavis said, taking an arm to wave to the blue haired boy.

They flew to him. Ciel seemed to be looking down, looking for something. Mavis tilted her head slightly in confusion.

"Where did Raymond go?" she asked him. "I cannot sense his magic anymore."

"Maybe he died!" Yusari exclaimed, laughing evilly.

"He's not dead yet."

Mavis and Ciel spun to the voice. Jin was now riding a flying horse. He didn't seem to mind that the horse was colored with rainbows. Instead, he had a serious look on his face. Jin lifted his shirt to show them his abdomen. On the right side of his abdomen, was a black fish. The dark guild's insignia.

"If he was dead, this would disappear. We're not obligated to this guild for all of eternity. The deal was with him. No other master who comes will rule upon us," Jin explained. His normally cheerful face was now replaced by a cold scowl. Of course, in a serious and stoic manner.

"Do you know where he is, Jin-kun?" Mavis asked him.

"Don't tell me you think you're older than him," Yusari mumbled.

Jin shook his head. "It'll be best if we split up to find him."

"Split up? Are you nuts?" Yusari exclaimed. "If we split up, we won't be able to work as a team. We'll be weaker than we are together!"

Ciel shoved his hands in his pockets. "I have to agree with the shrimp."

Mavis nodded in agreement. "Yusari-kun is right. That is why we are a guild. We are also a team."

Jin smirked. "Well then, I guess you're right." He patted his Pegasus. "Let's go."

Together, they flew off in search of the old man.

"How come you all can fly?" Yusari whined.

Ciel conked his head. "Just be glad you can use magic now." Yusari shrugged.

XXXX

It was sunset now. Just behind the range of mountains the sun peaked. The sky was now a mixture of red, orange, and purple. It was getting windier.

Mavis's nose twitched. She pointed down below. "If it gets any windier, we might be blown away. We will have to search from the ground." The others nodded.

On the ground, Yusari ran around happily. But as he lifted his arms, he cringed. He almost reopened his wound.

Jin nodded to the Pegasus who then disappeared. Ciel walked around, sword in hand, ready for battle. Mavis looked around.

"Man, that coward!" Ciel exclaimed. "If he wants to fight us so badly, why not just come out and fight us now?"

The ground trembled. Out popped thousands of skinny, yet sharp, vines. It began attacking them, slashing at their skin and virtually everywhere it could. Sharp thorns were placed randomly on the ground making every step the children took painful. Everywhere they looked, it was just a maze of torture and bloodshed. It wasn't surprising that Ciel and Jin passed out from blood loss. But as they fell, ever more vines and thorns stabbed at them.

"You chicken! Fight us yourself!" Yusari shouted. His pupils trembled as he watched Ciel and Jin's bodies get tossed around in a bloody mess.

Raymond held out his hands. It stopped vines from moving. But everything was still in place. The old man's serious composure soon changed to a huge and wicked grin.

"Ah, the smart boy. Have you had enough? Do you give up?" he asked.

"You're scared aren't you?" Yusari shouted out. "You're afraid that a bunch of kids are gonna beat you up in the state you're in!"

Raymond stepped forward and grabbed a hold of Yusari's neck, squeezing tighter, choking the brown haired boy. Yusari made little squeaking noises as he tried to talk. He spat at the young boy.

"I'm not afraid of anything."

With one last effort, Yusari screamed loudly. Birds flew away quickly, animals scampered away, and the ground shook violently.

"Well I hope you will be afraid of spiders!" Yusari shouted.

A tidal wave of spiders fell on the two. Cobwebs flew in random places. Raymond screamed as one of the spiders bit him. It was a black widow. His neck burned from where the spider had taken a bite out of his flesh. It was if his neck were on fire. The effects of the poison spread through his body. Raymond racked with pain as he howled out. And soon, he was dead.

Yusari took Raymond's hand off his neck. Then he took in a deep breath, coughing and spluttering like a fish out of water. When he could finally breath normally again, Yusari looked to Mavis who had also collapsed out of blood loss. He looked at his spiders and then pointed to his friends whose bodies were still bleeding heavily.

"Use your cobwebs to make a bandage for all of their wounds," he choked out. "Then carry them on your backs to the Hargeon Clinic. There should be a girl there who looks almost exactly like Jin. Bring them to her."

What about you? They seemed to be asking him that question.

"I'll be right behind you guys. But please… take them to Willa."

Obeying their master's order, they quickly placed thick bundles of cobwebs on the injuries and then began carrying them out on their backs. As they left his sight, Yusari took in a deep breath and looked up at the dark sky. The stars were twinkling brightly.

"Mom… Dad… Whoever you are… Are you watching me right now?" he whispered quietly.

Groaning, he willed himself to stand up. Then, staggering every so often, he walked back to Hergeon.

XXXX

Again, Yusari woke up to the dull throbbing feeling. With the open curtains bringing light inside, he groaned. The sunlight was blinding him.

"H-Hey! I think he's waking up!" The voice sounded distant, but Yusari could tell it was Ciel.

"Yusari-kun?" Mavis. "Are you awake?" She sounded worried.

Slowly, Yusari opened his eyes to reveal a worried looking Mavis, a relieved looking Ciel, and a cheerful looking Jin.

"Ne, how long was I out?" he croaked.

Mavis smiled warmly and hugged him. "About a week."

There was a slight pause. "WHAT? A WEEK? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Yusari jumped out of bed, completely alert. His eyes were open wide with shock.

Mavis tilted her head and gave him a blank smile as she shook her head. "It's alright, Yusari-kun. We all woke up 4 days ago." She then hugged him again. "You were brave out there, Yusari-kun. From a guild master to her child. From a friend to a friend. I am very proud of you."

Yusari smiled.

Ciel put his hand on Yusari's head. The brown haired bow cringed but stopped when he saw the blue haired boy's face grow red. It grew redder and redder as he tried to tell Yusari something.

"You… I… You did good… Yus… Runt. Didn't know… you had… it in you…" Ciel's face was really red now. "I… I'm proud of you too…"

Yusari's smile widened.

Jin gave Yusari a warm smile. "You should have seen Willa when she described to us what happened when you took us here. Her scared face was the best," he joked around, teasingly.

Willa, leaning against the door frame, sneered. "Don't get too cocky, Jin. I'll have you do the chores."

Jin's smile faded. He scratched the back of his head shyly. "Actually, Willa…" he mumbled. "I was wondering…"

He was cut off. "You want to join their guild. Right?" Willa asked him with a pained expression.

Her brother looked down. "Yeah… If that's alright with you."

"Go. Have an adventure," she told him immediately. "I've kept you here long enough. Have fun. That's what you deserve." Sadness and regret glinted in her eyes.

Jin's smile returned. "Really? You mean it, Willa? Well, why don't you come along with us? It'll be fun!"

Willa shook her head. She smiled off into the distance. "I can't. I'd actually like to be on my own for some time. But when I finally do choose to join you, I'll go and find you."

Nodding, understandingly, Jin smiled. He then raised his fist. Willa met his fist with hers and they pounded it together. "Then I guess this is good-bye for awhile." A tear rolled down his cheek.

His sister nodded as tears rolled down her cheeks as well. She wiped it away, smiling. Willa then turned to Mavis. "You're the guild master, right?" Mavis nodded. "Then I'm trusting you to take good care of my brother in place of me."

Mavis nodded again. "Take care of yourself as well, Willa-chan." She smiled blankly.

Jin turned too looked out the window. He wiped his tears away.

_"The sky looks pretty today, Willa!" Little Jin exclaimed happily, running around in circles._

_Willa laughed as he tripped over a rock. "Savor today's sky, Jin. It'll never look the same every again."_

_"If we ever get separated. Promise me that when you look up at the sky, you'll remember me." Jin gave her a cheeky smile._

_"Yeah, yeah."_

"Do you still remember?" Jin asked his sister. "How we gazed up at the sky? And how you told me that the sky would never look the same again?"

Willa looked at him confused. "Ehh, I'm not sure," she replied.

Jin placed his hand on her shoulder. "Then at least, remember our promise." Willa cocked her head. "We… We'll see each other again." A tear rolled down his cheek again. "Bye, Willa." He wiped it away.

Smiling, Willa gave Jin a small hug. "Goodbye, Jin."

XXXX

"Yeah!" Yusari cheered, excitedly. "We have a new member and I can use magic! This is great!" He jumped up and down. "I'm all pumped up!"

Mavis giggled. "Today must be one of your favorite days," she commented.

"I'm sure he's had better days," Ciel retorted.

Humming to himself, Jin looked up at the sky. He grinned widely as he saw something fly by. Jin pointed to it in awe.

"It's a fairy! It's a fairy!" he exclaimed.

Mavis, Yusari, and Ciel quickly turned to Jin and followed his finger. There, was a fairy, glittering and glistening in the sunlight.

"Does it have a tail?" Yusari asked.

Jin squinted his eyes. "I can't tell."

Mavis smiled. "Yusari-kun, don't make our adventure end. Let us continue our adventure and let the fairies decided if they have tails or not."

"Oh? Is that why you're called Fairy Tail?" the oldest boy asked.

Mavis nodded. "Fairy Tail. A never ending adventure."

**XXXX**

**OwlCookies: I love typing the moments wen they see fairies :3 its so so inspiring**

**Ok… so maybe I didn't use loke that much… but I cant help it. Loke cant fly!**


	9. The Bath House

**OwlCookies: I realized tht this story isn't focusing completely on mavis now… hm… how to fix that…**

**oh. and just a thought. if ur gunna favorite and follow this, at least review :I i feel so unappreciated wen ppl do tht... its like... its like ppl calling me short and i lost my voice so i cant rant to them about it... its tragic, huh.  
><strong>

**XXXX**

"Ne, it's not fair!" Yusari pouted, watching Ciel and Jin race against each other in the air.

Mavis looked at the brown haired boy curiously. There was shouted above. Surprised, she looked up to see that it was just one of Ciel's cry out outrage as Jin bested him again for at least the 20th time that day. She then looked back to Yusari who was mumbling furiously.

"What are you talking about, Yusari-kun?" the blond girl asked curiously.

"How come everyone but _me_ gets to have some way of flying?" he replied, pouting further.

Mavis chuckled. "Ciel, Jin, and I can help you fly." She cocked her head, smiling happily.

"But you have to _help_ me fly! The three of you can fly by yourselves!" Yusari protested. He had a feeling that someone was behind him so he turned around. Ciel was there, upside down, sticking his tongue out and smirking. "YAAAHHH!" Yusari exclaimed, shocked. He jumped, surprised, and accidentally bumped into Mavis. "S-Sorry about that…"

"You jealous of our magic?" Ciel asked, smirking smugly. "Jealous you can't fly like us? Hmm, short stuff? Maybe it's because you're so short," he teased.

Yusari jumped up, punching the air around him, angrily. "You wanna go?"

Ciel grabbed the boy's arms and floated up so Yusari couldn't touch the ground. Then he swung around in circles, laughing as Yusari screamed, terrified. Mavis smiled. Ciel saw her smile and gave her a toothy grin.

"Why do you smile so much?" Ciel asked her, still spinning the screaming Yusari.

"Because," Mavis replied, "you all make me smile. You all make me happy."

Ciel stopped spinning Yusari as he gently landed to the ground. A toothy grin was on his face. Letting go of Yusari, he sat down, smiling at Mavis radiantly. Yusari, extremely dizzy, walked around in circles only to then collapse on Mavis's lap.

"Ayeayeaye," he mumbled dizzily. "My heeaaddd hurrttss… WWhhhy is the world ssppinnninggg?" Yusari asked. To the others around him, he sounded drunk. "Ayeayeaye…"

Mavis chuckled and began stroking his hair as the boy continued rambling about how the world was spinning. That was when Jin flew down. He smiled as warm as Mavis.

"Ciel, don't pick on him. He's still hurt," Jin said, giving a small chuckle.

The two blue haired boys watched and Mavis tried talking sense back into Yusari while still stroking his hair. She pulled him up to her chest and rested her head on his forehead lightly, smiling. To Yusari, who was slowly gaining his sanity back, Mavis felt so warm. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that Mavis were just a mere illusion made from the light. Well, actually, sometimes, she _did_ seem like an illusion from the light. But when they were in the shadows, Yusari knew that she was real.

"Ciel," Yusari groaned, sitting back up, "that was _not_ cool." Mavis titled her head and smiled as he did so.

The former assassin smirked. He whacked the boy's head. "Man up."

Jin chuckled. "Says the one who hasn't gone through puberty yet. If you listen closely, Yusari's voice is actually lower than yours." He held up a finger looking at Ciel matter-of-factly.

Ciel's ears twitched. He began to look cat-like. "No way. You serious?" He stared at Yusari intently making the younger boy feel extremely awkward.

"Actually, I think is voice is deeper than both of ours," he pointed out. "Yusari, you're gonna have a really low voice when you're older."

"Hmm," Yusari mumbled. "You don't say."

Mavis's nose twitched as she blankly stared off into the distance. "I see a bath house." She pointed to a small building. Written all over it was _PUBLIC BATH._

"Woah!" Yusari exclaimed, jumping up and down. "I've never been to one of those!"

Mavis smiled. "Me neither. Shall we go, Yusari-kun?"

Excitedly, Yusari nodded. "Yeah! Yeah!"

Forgetting Ciel and Jin, Mavis and Yusari raced off to the bath house, seeing who could run there the fastest. Ciel and Jin, still lagging behind, looked at them dumbfounded.

"Dag yo," Ciel mumbled. "They never asked us if we wanted to go."

"Th-They left without us!" Jin exclaimed, shocked.

They then proceeded to run after the two, feeling very underappreciated. Once at the entrance of the bath house, Mavis and Yusari waited for them all giddy with glee. As Ciel ranted and Jin pouted, Mavis and Yusari laughed while apologizing.

"I apologize. I was too excited to go to a bath house," Mavis admitted, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment.

"It's fine." Jin smiled.

Ciel conked Yusari on the head. "What were you thinking you idiot? Yer an idiot, y'know that?"

Yusari laughed harder while rubbing the bump on his head.

The door suddenly opened to reveal a little girl around Yusari's age. She shyly looked up at them.

"H-Hello," she muttered quietly. "Welcome to the Magnolia Bath House. Would you like to take a bath?" the girl asked them timidly.

Mavis nodded and smiled. "We would like to take a bath, thank you. Do we need to pay upfront?" she asked.

The girl shook her head. "You can pay later…" she replied. She then led them inside.

The bath house was built to look quite modern despite its creaking floor boards and cracked and chipped walls. Chairs, sofas, tables, and house plants littered the room they entered. The girl then led them to a room with tatami mats. Beds and such were already prepared with a welcoming small table in the middle of the room where tea was already waiting. Next, she took them to a hallway with two doors. One door had a female sign; the other one had a male sign. She bowed to them.

"Please enjoy your stay," she squeaked. Her face was turning red, probably because of the nervousness of speaking to strangers.

Mavis bent down next to her and smiled. "Thank you, little girl. My name is Mavis Vermilion. What is yours?"

The blond girl's kindness and warmth reached the little girl for she gave Mavis a big smile. "My name is Gwendolyn Kinsmith," she replied. Mavis acknowledged the girls answer with a nod.

"Ne, Mavis, will you be ok taking a bath all alone? Can I come?" Yusari asked, grinning at his last question.

Ciel whacked his back. "Becoming a pervert now are we," he jeered.

Yusari blushed. "N-No! What are you talking about?"

The former assassin chuckled mischievously, looking away. Yusari sweat dropped.

"Ne, have fun, Mavis!" Yusari exclaimed, waving to Mavis who entered the female side.

The boys then entered their side.

"How about we spy on her?" Ciel asked, jokingly.

"LOOK WHO'S THE PERVERT NOW!" Yusari shouted.

"I was joking. Take a joke, runt." Ciel whacked his head.

"I swear," Yusari grumbled. "One of these days, you're going to kill my brain."

"Can't wait," Ciel snorted.

Jin raised his hands, smiling as he sweat dropped. "Now, now, Ciel…"

XXXX

Mavis dipped her feet in the water and smiled. "The water is warm," she whispered to herself happily. She then dipped herself down into the water until her chin barely touched. "I feel at ease." Mavis looked off into the distance, a blank smile on her face. "But I do hope I don't black out here." She closed her eyes and felt the warmth wash over her.

"Mavis-san," a little voice squeaked.

The blond girl felt little vibrations in the water in front of her. She opened her eyes to see Gwendolyn doggy paddling towards her. The little girl's face flushed when she saw Mavis looked at her. Squeaking, she looked down at the water and continued swimming to the blond girl.

"Hello, Gwendolyn-chan," Mavis greeted, smiling blankly.

"Gwen," Gwendolyn told her. "You can just call me Gwen." Her face grew redder.

"Alright, Gwen-chan." Mavis tilted her head and smiled so that her eyes closed.

Slowly, Gwen's little face turned into a smile. She sat next to Mavis. Gwen kicked her feet, awkwardly, in front of her. She hummed to herself seeming frustrated. Her face steamed steamy, now.

"Are you ok, Gwen-chan?" Mavis asked softly. "You seem… disturbed…" She paused. "Bothered?" she suggested.

Gwen blew bubbles on the water. Her twitchy and stirring ways relaxed as she continued to blow bubbles. She frowned.

"Mama and papa are really sick," she admitted. "They say that if you take a bath in a bath house, it makes you feel better and it even gives you back your magic power. But even though they own this bath house, they don't wanna take a bath. They saids that it was for the customers only."

Mavis looked at her thoughtfully. "Then why are _you_ taking a bath?"

Gwen cocked her head. "Mama says that I should take a bath."

"I see."

There moment of silence was interrupted by the shouts of the boys and a bought of feathers.

"_Ciel! That's not cool!_" Yusari's voice of distress was heard. A few feathers fluttered down into the water as Yusari began screaming in horror. "_Let me go!_"

Mavis closed her eyes and sighed while standing up. She wrapped a towel around herself.

"I suppose I'm done now," she told Gwen. "Goodbye, Gwen-chan."

Gwen got up after her. "Can I come too, Mavis-tan?" she asked, flushing.

Mavis nodded, smiling. "You can just call me, Mavis."

The little girl nodded. Together, they got dressed.

XXXX

"_Ciel_!" Yusari shouted, about to cry due to the terror.

The blue haired boy spun around the younger boy in the water, laughing hysterically. "Nyehehe!" he laughed out loud. "Time you make you man-up, runt! Face the cyclone!"

"Ciel! Not cool!" Yusari screamed.

Jin wadded at the far end of the bath, avoiding the mess as he watched them, blowing bubbles in the water. A sweat drop fell near his temple.

"Now, now, you two," he muttered. "This isn't the best place to start arguing." Jin chuckled to himself feeling awkward.

The first few occurrences he saw of those two fighting, he thought it was just a playful thing. But now that he was here and that he was facing it up front and personal, he had a whole different view of the situation. Now he really just wanted no part of this at all. It was getting really rough and Jin didn't understand why Ciel would waste his magic power just to bully the younger boy.

"There's no need for that…" Ciel was now splashing a ton of water on Yusari.

Now crying, Yusari ran away from the bath, tears streaming down his face as he wiped away his tears.

"Jerk!" he called to Ciel.

"Now, now…" Jin mumbled, sweat dropping and trying to grin.

Ciel put his hands to his hips looking annoyed. "Sheesh, what a whimp."

"He isn't as strong as you," Jin told him. "You shouldn't really be picking on him."

The younger boy snorted. "It's my job to torture him."

"Right…" Jin got up and began walking away. "I should probably see how he's doing, then."

Ciel eyed him as the teen walked away. Then, he too got out.

XXXX

Yusari stormed through the hallway until he reached the bedrooms. Mavis was there, drinking tea with Gwen. He huffed as he sat down next to Mavis.

The two girls looked at him confused.

"What did Ciel do this time?" Mavis asked.

She wore a light pink kimono with a red ribbon wrapped around her waist. Mavis still wore her orange ribbon around her neck. Everything was the same except for her hair. Her hair was tied up on top of her head and clipped back.

Next to her, Gwen sipped her tea. Her orange side bangs fell to over her eyes as the girl bent down to sip her tea. She blinked at Yusari with her big green eyes. Just like Mavis, she wore a light pink kimono with a red ribbon. But maybe it was just the theme here.

"He kept splashing me with the water and he made a cyclone!" Yusari told Mavis, looking angry. "That jerk doesn't get a hint for when to stop!" he scowled, sipping his tea that Gwen had poured for him.

Mavis frowned. "Is that so?"

Just then, Jin walked in. He wore the same light blue kimono with a blue ribbon on his waist just like Yusari. Then yeah, it is a theme. He frowned when he saw the extremely angry Yusari.

"Yusari-kun," he said. "Are you ok? Ciel didn't mean it…" Jin rambled.

Yusari glared at him coldly. "Whose side are you on?"

Jin collapsed to the ground, pounding his fist on the floor, mumbling darkly as dark lines fell upon him. "I'm worthless trash. I'm a useless person…" he mumbled darkly while rambling on and on about how useless he was.

Mavis smiled at him. "Jin-kun, sit down and have some tea."

Looking like nothing had just happened right there, Jin stood up and smiled as he sat down next to Gwen. The orange haired girl poured him some tea. He blew the steam rising from the cup and then began sipping it elegantly.

"Where is Ciel-kun?" Mavis asked Jin, cocking her head in confusion.

Jin shrugged. "I left him because Yusari ran off, crying."

Yusari flushed. "I-I did _not_ cry…" he protested.

The blue haired boy chuckled. "I beg to differ…" He smiled teasingly.

That was when Ciel walked in. He looked around the room, rubbed his nose then sat across the circular table from Yusari. The brown haired boy looked down at his tea, making sure he had no eye contact with the other boy. Mavis, Gwen, and Jin looked back and forth at the two boys feeling awkward.

"So… Eto… How's the weather?" Gwen asked quietly.

Jin smiled, obviously faking it as it looked really cheesy. "It's been great. Sun shines with little clouds in the sky. Yep… It's been some great weather…" he replied.

Another awkward silence. Jin was now on the ground with his dark lines, muttering something the others couldn't hear.

"Ciel-kun," Mavis said. Ciel replied with an ear twitch as he looked at her all cat-like. "Apologize to Yusari-kun. You made him feel very bad."

Ciel's ears twitched again. "Why should I? It's his fault for being a whimp."

Yusari clutched his tea cup angrily as he continued to stare down it. Mavis looked at him with concern. Then she stood up and headed out. She motioned for Ciel to follow after her. With his cat-like face, he followed. When the door shut behind him, that was when Yusari looked up. Jin and Gwen were looking from him to the door.

From inside the room, a few mumbles and complaints were heard from outside in the hall. Then there was a loud and horrified shriek that lasted for a few long seconds. The three children remaining in the room shivered in fear. That scream didn't sound very good. After the scream was a pause. Then, the door opened to reveal the blank smile of Mavis. If you looked behind her, Ciel lay collapsed, looking very pale, his soul seemed to be floating out of his mouth.

"I suppose that was a harsh enough punishment," Mavis said, still smiling brightly. Without looking back at Ciel, Mavis sat back down and poured herself another cup of tea. "Shall we have more tea?" she asked innocently.

Gwen, Ciel, and Jin smiled back at her, sweat drops hiding at the back of their heads as they watched her pour tea back in their empty cups.

"Wh-What did you do?" Yusari asked, frightened that he was the first one to break the silence.

"He would not apologize to you so I punished him," Mavis replied, still smiling.

Yusari looked to Ciel who was still passed out on the ground with his soul floating out from his mouth.

"H-How exactly?" Yusari sweat dropped some more.

Mavis tilted her head. "That is for you to find out when you receive punishment for any reason you may need it."

This scared the other three more than the punishment probably could. They drank the rest of their tea in silence with a few light conversations with Gwen here and there to get her used to talking to them.

Mavis's eyes fluttered close.

"_Will you apologize to Yusari?"_

"_No! It's his problem that he's such a crybaby! Yer not gonna do anything to make me apologize! I'm not scared of you!"_

"_Is that so? Maybe Lupa was right when she said that you need to learn respect." Mavis turned away and, glancing back to look at Ciel in shame. "I suppose there is no other choice. I'll have to punish you." She placed her hand on his forehead. _

_Ciel's ears twitched in annoyance. "What are you doing?" he asked suspiciously._

"_What, I wonder, is your nightmare?" There was throb in Mavis's magic._

_Ciel screamed in horror, crouching down and whimpering. He then collapsed, looking deathly pale as his soul started to come out of his mouth._

"_Maybe I overdid it?" Smiling anyway, Mavis opened the door to the room. "I suppose that's enough punishment."_

"Wahh!" a shout was heard outside. It ended up being a shout of two people.

A young man, dressed in a white chef's outfit, came in with trays and plates. Ciel was behind him, still pale, but looking fine. The chef placed the trays and plates on the table and bowed.

"Please enjoy your food." He then looked at Gwen. "Gwendolyn, how many times have we told you to stop interacting with the guests? You're disturbing them."

Gwen frowned. "Sorry…" she mumbled.

Mavis smiled at the man. "She's been no trouble at all. In fact, she's welcome to have dinner with us." The man nodded and headed out. Once he was gone, Mavis looked to Ciel who had taken back his seat. "Will you apologize now or do you need more punishment?"

Ciel gave her a horrified look, shook his head rapidly and then looked to Yusari, flushing in embarrassment. "I'm… sorry… I…. made fun of you…"

Yusari smirked smugly at him. "What else?"

"And I'm sorry… I… hurt you… called you a runt… almost drowned you… made you suffer… almost dropped you…" Ciel's list continued on as he continued rambling about all the things he did to the brown haired boy. "I'm sorry," he muttered quietly in embarrassment.

Yusari grinned. "I forgive you," he said childishly.

Jin smiled as he saw Yusari smirking at Ciel smugly. "This brings back nostalgia," he whispered quietly to himself.

XXXX

Gwen cuddled with Mavis underneath the covers. To her, Mavis felt so warm. Mavis's long blond hair, now tied halfly into a bun wrapped itself around Gwen a bit, adding to the warmth. She was about to fall asleep in Mavis's arms when the door opened abruptly.

"Gwen… Your parents…" It sounded like the chef man.

The orange haired girl sat up and rubbed her eyes sleepily waving Mavis in the process. Gwen got out of the bed and took the blond girl's hand. She tugged it, begging Mavis to come with Gwen. Mavis nodded and got out of bed after Gwen.

The chef man led with way with Gwen and Mavis trailing behind, holding hands. They entered a warm room with red rugs, cabinets, and many pictures of Gwen and the two people in the bed together. But unlike the pictures, the two people, Gwen's parents, looked very ill. Their faces were pale and the shirts of their PJ's were covered with sweat. They looked pained as their breathes were ragged while they fought for air. Their eyes were closed.

"Mama… Papa…" Gwen murmured, frowning as she let go of Mavis's hand to go to their side.

"Gwen…" the orange haired girl's mother rasped, clutching her hand. "Have you…" A sigh. "…figured it out… yet…?"

"No…" she replied sadly.

"Then… it can't be… helped…"

Her mother's hands let go of Gwen's. She sighed quietly as her hand fell lightly back down onto the bed. Her face looked at peace. A tear dribbled down Gwen's cheek as her father did the same as her mother. She stepped down and walked to Mavis. Gwen looked up with determination burning in her eyes. She then crouched down on her hands and knees.

"Please… teach me magic so I can heal people…" Gwen begged.

Mavis crouched down to her height and put a hand on her head. "Raise your head, Gwen-chan. I cannot teach you magic. Just as Yusari-kun had too, you have to learn magic from your soul." She placed a finger to Gwen's chest. "But you can already use magic, can't you?"

Gwen raised her head. "H-How did you know?" she asked, squeaking.

Mavis smiled. "You seem like a magical little girl."

The orange haired girl's eyes became watery. Snot seemed to drip down for her nose. She sniffed it in and began crying, hopping into Mavis's arms. Mavis smiled while stroking Gwen's hair as she cried on Mavis's shoulder.

"Join Fairy Tail," Mavis said. "Our guild is like a home for those who no longer have one. Burden's of the past is a key concept to joining Fairy Tail. No matter how recent the wounds inflicted to you are, they are all in the past now. You are welcome to join us."

"_Because I didn't have parents, everyone would always bully me and shun me… It didn't seem fair to me at that time. I would always cry every night because of it."_

"_I didn't understand why they were afraid of me. Why was I the one who was hated? It was my parents who were the thieves."_

"_We were forced into it. Lupa, though I trust her good judgment, she can be headstrong. It was because of her that we were forced into something that felt like slavery."_

**XXXX**

**OwlCookies: pewhf! This took a few days to write up! 3500 plus words. It seems to be getting longer and longer. lollolol**


	10. Rivalries

**OwlCookies: updation might be REALLY slow from now on because of school n such. Just a warning…**

**And wow! Im already to double digits! A grand smacking 10 chapters! I didn't think this would be so long… but… I guess it's bound to happen with all my inspiration… :] thanks to those who reviewed~**

**XXXX**

"Yo, Sovie, have you heard about the local guild rivalries?" A bearded man in his late forties grabbed his large beer mug and raised it in a toast. The beer inside sloshed around and threatened to escape the mug.

Sovie, a large and muscular man sitting on the stool next to him nodded, raising his beer mug and clashing it against the other man's. Their beer splashed out and splattered on the counted in front of them.

"Yeah man, I heard that Midnight Wolf and Soaring Eagle are pretty heated up, battling head to head and all," Sovie replied, his words now slurring. He chugged down his mug of beer and pounded on the counter when it was empty. "Waiter! More beer here!"

"Man, those two guilds are pretty tough. I heard they were battling for the number one spot on the charts! Who do you think's gonna win?"

"Well shoot, Marty, I'd have to say Midnight Wolf. They've gotten pretty darn strong lately! I even heard they got new recruits who're pretty strong!" Sovie exclaimed, laughing out heartily while patting his stomach.

"No way, Sov!" Marty protested. "Soaring Eagle's gonna bring down Midnight Wolf _hard_! They've been number one for months now! Midnight Wolf ain't standin' a chance against those dudes!"

At the foothills of Mount Hakobe, a lone city stands. Hittsusame, the tavern city. In this city of Hittsusame, two guilds stand at opposite ends. Midnight Wolf and Soaring Eagle. At current, Soaring Eagle is the number one ranked guild with Midnight Wolf at a heated up second place. Because of their locations and ranks, Midnight Wolf has begun to lead short surprise attacks on Soaring Eagle. After a few attacks, Soaring Eagle began to take action and attacked Midnight Wolf head on.

The Fairy Tail members, unaware of the current situation, walked into the middle of one of their battles. All around them, members of Midnight Wolf and Soaring Eagle attacked each other, using their magic and hand to hand battle, in something that looked complete inhumane. No mercy was spared for the opponent when they had fallen. The victor rivaling the victim immediately killed the one on the ground mercilessly. All around them, dead bodies were laid, messily in a bloody pile while other members of their guild fought the opponent, promising vengeance for their fallen comrades.

Mavis Vermilion, young blond child, and guild master of the soon-to-be Fairy Tail, looked around, eyeing the destruction and battle. Rage seemed to be radiating from her very essence. Every dead body, every merciless killing, every triumphant laugher… they added the fuel to Mavis's rage.

"Lives do not need to be lost in order to win a battle," Mavis scowled. The glowing warmth and happiness from her usual appearance just seemed to have faded away.

Behind her, there was a high pitched shout that seemed shrill and horrified.

"Gwen!" Jin exclaimed. He pulled out a silver key from his fanny pack. "Gate of the fox, I open thee!" he shouted. "Vulpecula!"

With a poof, a red furred fox with white paws and red eyes appeared next to him. Jin looked at Mavis who was looking back at him, still scowling. He pointed to the person who had kidnapped Gwen. "Go get her back but try your best not to hurt that other man."

The fox gave Jin a curt nod and ran off at an extremely fast and nimble speed until he reached the man. Quickly, Vulpecula snatched Gwen from the man's grasp and carried the young girl back, her collar in its mouth as it quickly ran back to Jin. As it dropped the orange haired girl, he disappeared making Jin sweat drop.

"Always the impatient one, Vulpecula," Jin sighed.

The man who had kidnapped Gwen spun around and angrily pointed to Jin. "Stupid Soaring Eagle!" he exclaimed, charging at Jin.

He was a slim yet tall man with hair that spiked upward on his head, on top of his head, and to the side of his head. The man wore a thick coat and sweat pants. His coat had the Midnight Wolf insignia. He raised his arm. A golden magic symbol rotated around his arm. When it disappeared, lightning crackled at his hand. It soon turned solid until it looked whip like.

"SOARING EAGLE!" he screamed in outrage.

The man slashed his lightning whip at them. With a scream, the Fairy Tail members barely dodged as they jumped up and rolled away. Where they had previously stood was now a large gap with jagged asphalt from the road.

"We're-" Yusari jumped from an attack. "Not-" He rolled away. "Soaring Eagle!" he finished.

The attacking man from Midnight Wolf stopped. "Oh. Oops, are you just traveling mages?"

Irritated, the 5 of them nodded.

He scratched the back of his head apologetically. "Sorry about that. Continue through."

Mavis glowered at him. "Tell your guild mates and your master to stop this foolishness," she scowled. "Lives do not need to be lost in order to win a battle. Carry out your victory through mercy, pride, and forgiveness."

"You don't understand, little girl," he said. He spun around and whipped the opponent who had charged up to him. The Soaring Eagle member fell to the ground, looking burned from the electrocution of the lightning whip. "Not only are we trying to be ranked the number one guild again, we're getting revenge. Those darned Soaring Eagle punks placed their guild in _our_ town! We were here first! Now they think they're all high and mighty because they're first place! We'll show them how wrong they are!"

"Killing isn't needed to win a battle." Mavis continued to scowl at him.

"Hey," the man protested. "We didn't start that killing feat. It was Soaring Eagle. The only reason why they're first is because they go around killin' other peoples. It ain't right but we gotta win so we stole their tactic."

"You… You're not going to try to stop them… are you?" Yusari asked with chagrin. "I… I don't think I can handle another fight in the same week."

"Nonsense!" Ciel exclaimed, whacking Yusari's back. "We'll fight to the death if we have too!" He had completely forgotten about his punishment.

"You're part of a guild, aren't you? Help us teach Soaring Eagle a lesson and we'll stop killing their members," the man suggested. "After this battle is over, we plan to surprise attack them again soon. Make an alliance with us. Just for one battle."

Mavis's scowl ceased. Now she looked at him with her blank eyes as she tapped her chin with her finger. "I suppose that can be arranged. But after that battle, I want both guilds to promise to stop the killing. Fight as much as your heart's desire, but no more merciless killing."

The man nodded and shook Mavis's hand. "It's a deal. My name's Ralph Kuszmaul. What guild are you guys from?"

"Fairy Tail," Mavis replied. "My name is Mavis Vermilion. These are my friends; Yusari Arachnis, Ciel Conran, Jin Lane, and Gwen Kinsmith."

"Fairy Tail, eh?" Ralph asked. "Never heard of it. Say, who's your guild master?"

"Me," Mavis replied with a smile.

Yusari and Ciel laughed mischievously once they saw the complete shock on Ralph's face.

Soon, the battle was over and both guilds retreated. Mavis, not knowing who won or not (and not actually caring either), walked alongside Ralph, chatting with him more to find the background of the two guilds. As they did so, Yusari and Gwen were off, skipping around together as if they were happily disappearing to Lala Land. This left Ciel and Jin who were walking together, lagging behind a bit.

"Mavis seems really into this," Jin told Ciel, frowning. "I think she may be going over the top with all this."

"You kidding me?" Ciel pumped his fists in front of him. "This is gonna be _great_! Our first battle as a guild! It's gonna be awesome! Even if I can't kill anyone," he said that with a grumble, "it'll be nice to beat up some people with my _awesome_ skill!"

Jin sweat dropped. "The question is… do you _have_ any?" he asked with a tease.

Ciel scowled at him, glaring at the older boy. "Is that a challenge?"

The older boy raised his arms in surrender. "N-No, no. None of that is necessary."

"Feh," Ciel spat. "That's what I thought, you coward."

"Now, now, don't start with me…" Jin mumbled.

Ralph led the Fairy Tail gang to the home of Midnight Wolf. It was more of a tavern really, run down and broken. All over most walls were graffiti words stating that "beastness" of Soaring Eagle and how Soaring Eagle was a million times better than Midnight Wolf. Around the graffiti, the walls were splintered and seemed in completely and utterly _terrible_ condition due to all the fights with their rivaling guild. It was amazing how they didn't chose to find a different location. But because of pride and knowledge that Soaring Eagle was probably in the same condition, the members of Midnight Wolf refused to budge, vowing that they would defeat Soaring Eagle.

XXXX

"Yo, Marty! I heard that some guild called Fairy Tail joined Midnight Wolf!" Sovie exclaimed, chugging down his beer. "Yaahhh put this next one on my tab, I'm all outta dough!"

"Fairy Tail? Ne'er heard a 'em! They must be a pre'ey weak guild!" Marty fell back and hit the ground, snoring now.

Sovie groaned. "Dang, Mart! You have _no _tolerance for alcohol! And you call yourself a mannnn!" He too, collapsed and began snoring.

The bartender smiled menacingly. "Even if you two try to hide it, I know you're both part of Midnight Wolf. We'll have to punish you soon." She then smiled. (can bartenders be girls?) "You've recruited another guild, hmm? Weak."

XXXX

"WHAT?" Midnight Wolf's guild master, Jacve Zera, exclaimed in rage. He furrowed his brow as he glared at the messenger in rage. "DARN THOSE SOARING EAGLE JERKS!" he shouted. Jacve kicked the nearest object. He sent the chair spiraling away, crashing into an already broken wall. Jacve sighed. "Maybe we should give up. Soaring Eagle is too powerful. They're dirty punks all right."

Ralph shouted in protest. "We can't give up yet! We'll attack them with new allies! I've brought with me a small guild, Fairy Tail. They're willing help us!"

"On one condition," Mavis added. "No more merciless killing is to be done during any more of your battles and I will make sure Soaring Eagle does the same."

Jacve walked to her. "And who may you be?" he asked suspiciously.

"I am Mavis Vermilion, the guild master of Fairy Tail," the blond girl replied with a serious and straight composure.

**XXXX**

**OwlCookies: im serious ._." if ur gunna favorite this story, the least u cud do is drop by a review**


	11. Fest and the Eagles

**OwlCookies: ahhh procrastination… something ive been doing these past days to this story…**

**Yknow wat DX im just happy ppl read this… O-O im actually AMAZED on how many hits and vistors im getting for this O_O 600+ I swear. Thts more than ANY of my stories have gotten… cept for ask jayfeather.**

**XXXX**

"Darn," Ciel hissed, dodging yet another attack. "These Soaring Eagle punks _are_ strong." Strong. Strong. He was getting beaten because his opponent was stronger than him.

"_It's an assassin 101 thing, noob. No ONE, not even the strongest person in the world is stronger than you. As long as you're getting your job done and you assassinate them, then that's all that matters."_

"_But how would ya kill 'em if they're stronger than you?"_

"_I just told you, you idiot! No one is stronger than you! No one is stronger than me. No one is stronger than the weakest whimp here. You got me, noob?"_

"_No but…"_

No, that Soaring Eagle mage wasn't stronger than him. In this simple game of defeat the bad guy, no one was stronger than Ciel. No one.

"You wanna give up, little boy?" the Soaring Eagle mage cackled. "I can kill you here and now if you want. I'm just too strong for you, aren't I?" he scoffed.

The debris around Ciel seemed to scatter from the pressure of his magic power he seemed to be radiating. From looking down at the ground, Ciel starred straight into the older man's eyes. His pupils shrank to slits. "No one," he growled, "not even _you_ is stronger than me."

"Ah?" the man asked, unfazed by the younger boy's glare. "Is that a challenge?" He touched the golden ring on his thumb. "Ring magic! Twister!" A tornado swirled before him.

The wind caused by the tornado whipped Ciel's bangs, slapping his forehead wildly. It caused for him to see nothing but his hair for a moment, but he stayed firm and still, sword raised and ready. The tornado crashed into other people who fought, regardless of what guild the belonged too. Finally it headed in Ciel's direction. With a loud cry, the former assassin sliced at the magic, completely nullifying the effect. People caught in it flew off in different directions, screaming in horror.

"Now you're getting serious. I'm glad, I thought I wouldn't have any fun killing _you_," the man smirked.

Ciel smugly looked at him. Though he was shorter, he seemed to be looking down upon the Soaring Eagle man. "The question is, are _you_ serious?" He couldn't help himself. Ciel laughed out loud, cackling like he was an assassin once more. "I haven't had this thrill since the olden days."He slid his finger down his cheek and past his chin. "Shall I kill you? Nyehehe…" he cackled wickedly.

The psychotic way Ciel looked scared the older man. This was no ordinary boy.

XXXX

Gwen staggered and fell back down, her eyes spiraling in dizziness. It was no use, that tornado she was caught in made her hopelessly dizzy. The sky above her seemed to be spinning rapidly causing Gwen to collapse. She was so dizzy she felt like she was going to throw up.

"Nnh…" she mumbled. "I'm so dizzy… Am I standing up?"

"H-Hey! Don't just lay there! Some Soaring Eagle jerk is going to kill you!" Ralph jogged to her side, helping her back up. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Gwen rapidly shook her head and reawakened her senses. She looked up at him and blinked. Her face flushed. "When did you get here?" she asked quietly, barely audible over a whisper.

Ralph sweat dropped. "You better hurry and run, Soaring Eagle might-"

"Might what? Kill you like we did to a bunch of your lackeys?" Ralph and Gwen spun to the voice.

A young man, about the age of 16 stood there with his hands in his pockets. He wore a white cloak with blue rimming, dark brown pants, silver cufflinks, and a silver polo shirt with the Soaring Eagle insignia near the bottom right side of his shirt. His hair was choppily cut with long bangs and two clumps of long hair framing his face. Dark purple cat ears were visible over his equally dark purple hair. He had glowing golden eyes like Ciel with tan skin. The young man's hands were in his pockets as he looked at them superiorly with a toothy smirk showing his rather sharp canine teeth.

"Wh-Who's that?" Gwen asked, her face getting redder the more she talked to the older man.

"Nero Ashland," Ralph replied. "The Black Cat. As his title suggests, Nero is a man who brings bad luck to his opponents. I'd watch out if I were you." He looked down to Gwen only to see that the little girl disappeared. "G-Gwen! Where'd you go?"

Ralph looked around until he saw Gwen cowering underneath a table that had been tossed out of Soaring Eagle's guild place to a tree. It's splintered and broken state gave the orange haired girl quite a good form of shelter. The older man sweat dropped.

"So, who wants to go first nya?" Nero asked, licking his lips.

Ralph clenched his fists. "Let's go, Nero," he growled.

Nero narrowed her eyes and with a cat-like battle cry, he jumped up, blocking the sun from Ralph's view. Dark blue magic symbols appeared around Nero's hands as they soon disappeared to reveal sharp metal claws on the cat man's knuckles. Nero fell back to earth above Ralph, his artificial claws ready to slice at the older man's flesh.

"Not this time!" Ralph shouted. "Ice make, dragon!" After slamming his fist to his other hand and pushing his hands forward, a large dragon made out of ice appeared, blocking Nero's landing space.

"Nya~!" the dark haired boy exclaimed, slipping from the ice and falling down. He landed on his feet. "That's a dirty trick you mean man!" he pouted cheesily. "It's my turn nya!"

Again, Nero charged at Ralph, this time, he shredded the ice dragon into little sharp pieces that flew everywhere. Some hit Ralph, some hit Nero. Before the ice shower ended, Nero slashed at Ralph in a surprise attack. The older man barely had enough time to dodge but the tips of Nero's claws scratched at Ralph's arm.

"Arg!" Ralph groaned. "My arm is burning!"

Nero smirked. "Like it? I enhanced my claws with poison this time. Have fun dying a _slow_ and _painful_ death," he cackled.

Ralph seethed in pain, slowly sinking to the ground. He tore his sleeve off his arm revealing a misty purple substance that seemed to be spreading up his arm. Every time the poison advanced, Ralph groaned in pain. In an effort, he placed his hands together.

"Ice make… sword…" he growled, trying not to cry out in pain.

With his good arm, he held the sword and steadied it before the beginning of his poisoned arm. Nero looked at him confused.

"Cutting of your own arm. Noble but dangerous. You'll be such a useless mage nya," he scoffed.

Glaring at Nero, he cut down on his arm, screaming in pain. As Ralph cut his own arm off, blood splattered both the cat man and Ralph. Even if he tried to make it quick and clean, the pain was excruciating and messy. His amputated arm was a bloody mess with a portion of his bone jutting out and muscles seeping out onto the ground messily. The older man was losing blood quickly. A large portion of the blood was in his amputated arm. But, at least the poison was gone now.

"Dude, that's gross nya."Nero cringed as he saw the bloody mess Ralph was in.

Muscle, fat, veins, capillaries, splinters on his bone, lots and lots of blood, his _skin_. It was _everywhere_ and it was _disgusting_.

"Ralph-san!" Gwen exclaimed in horror. She quickly ran to him and expertly bandaged his arm with his torn of shirt. Of course, it wasn't enough to completely stop the bleeding. But it would have to do at the moment. "Don't die, Ralph-san!" the orange haired girl exclaimed, shocked to already feel his sticky and warm blood seep through the shirt.

"You've just caused more trouble for yourself nya," Nero spat as he began to feel light headed. He passed out.

"Leave me here and help the others, I'm an old man. I'm bound to die soon anyway," Ralph ordered.

"No!" Gwen exclaimed, her face was far from red now. "You're not going to die!" she squeaked. With both of her hands, she applied pressure on Ralph's wound causing the older man to shout out in pain.

"It hurts so darn bad," Ralph seethed through clenched teeth.

"I-I'm sorry I can't help you any more than this!" Gwen exclaimed on the verge of tears. "I'm useless! I can't help anyone!"

"N-No," Ralph assured, "I'm fine. Don't worry."

It was far from the truth. He was feeling light headed now. Looking down at the ground, at Nero, and at him, he realized how much blood he had lost. Ralph knew he was going to die. It would be an impossible feat if he lived. Gwen was crying now but it was blinded by a strange light that was interrupting his view. Ralph tried blinking it away but it grew brighter and brighter.

"Ralph-san!"

XXXX

"Look Bearly, it's a runt. This'll be easy." A woman in her late 40s peered down at Yusari who stuck his tongue at her spitting.

The man, Bearly, bent down to looked at Yusari. He squinted. "Hmm… you're right, Winny. You're one of those Fairies, right? You the weakest one? You're such a runt.

"SHUT UP YOU WEIRDOS!" Yusari shouted, punching the air in frustration that all the two in front of him was doing was just calling him short.

"Oh look," Winny laughed, "he's doing something funny!"

Bearly laughed along with her and began clapping. "It's like a zoo or a circus act! Do something else, little monkey!"

Yusari scowled and began stomping away. "Screw you two, you aren't worth my time."

Winny and Bearly's laughing stopped. "No, no little boy," Winny scolded. "You can't leave here until we kill you first! Silly boy, don't you know the rules of war?"

The brown haired boy spun around. His arms rose to his hips while his palms face the ground. Yusari was totally ready for this. His first real fight!

Bearly assumed the same position as Yusari. "Don't worry, honey bunchkins, I'll handle him."

"Oh, Bearly! You're so sweet!" Winny squealed.

Yusari sweat dropped. These two were so weird.

"Make your move, little Fairy," Bearly said.

The ground rumbled. "Ne, let's make this quick," Yusari said. "I have other things to do." A bunch of spiders appeared around the boy's feet. As quick as they could, the spiders crawled to Bearly and surrounded him.

"EEE!" Winny exclaimed. "Spiders! Kill them, Bearly! Kill the spiders!"

"Don't worry, Winny-dear! Bearly will make them all better!" The ground rumbled again making Bearly's long and dirty beard bounce around a bit.

As with Yusari, spiders appeared.

"Hey!" the brown haired boy shouted angrily. "Copycat! Get your own type of magic!" He pointed his hand at the bearded man. "Wrap this up!"

All of Yusari's spiders crowded around Bearly, spitting out cobwebs all over the man. As every other person Yusari fought using the spiders, Bearly tried kicking them off, shaking them off, and then crushing them. The more spiders he killed, the more spiders appeared. But Yusari wasn't in the clear as he thought. The spiders that Bearly had summoned began to surround the boy.

"Oh no… I'm getting a taste of my own medicine aren't I?"

Now it seemed to be a battle of spiders vs spiders while Bearly and Yusari struggled to get the opponent's spiders off. To stop all of this, Yusari raised his arms; cobwebs shot out from the palm of his hands and wrapped themselves lightly around him like armor. Bearly did the same.

"What the heck! Copycat! Stop copying me!" Yusari shouted in protest.

Bearly chuckled. "But my magic allows me to copy the others. No matter what you do, little boy, this will just be a tie and Winny-boo will kill you."

Winny giggled. "Aww, thanks Bearly-boo!"

Yusari sweat dropped again. This wasn't very fun as Ciel claimed it to be.

The giant mounds of spiders from both sides disappeared with a poof. "Then we'll fight man to man!" Yusari proclaimed, raising his fist which tightened in cobwebs.

Bearly laughed. "Don't ya mean man to runt?"

Angrily, Yusari stormed up to the man and kicked him hard on the shin. "Shut up!" This really wasn't fun. It was irritating and probably even worse than Ciel.

XXXX

Jin wasn't in a better condition than any of his other comrades. In fact, he wasn't sure if he was going to win this one. Despite the harsh teachings Lupa had inflicted upon him, Soaring Eagle seemed to just be stronger than he had previously anticipated.

"Gate of the dragon. I open thee! Draco!" he shouted.

A red haired man with arms and legs of that of a dragon with blood red dragon wings appeared. "I told you," he scowled. "Stop using me for little things like this. I want a _bigger_ challenge. Jin you stupid idiot." Draco was tan, tall, and he looked very intimidating. It was no wonder he was rude and arrogant.

"Yeah," Jin sighed. "Sorry. But beat this guy up for me, please?" He smiled at Draco, trying to win over.

Draco scratched the back of his head, irritated. "Darn you and your pretty boy smiles."

He flew into the air and looked down at the Soaring Eagle member. The man from Soaring Eagle looked as intimidating as he did. He had the appearance of a half demon, half human with spikey black hair jutting out in different directions with a scar across his eye.

Draco flew down. He took in a deep breath and exhaled a blast of fire. It was gone as the man on the ground shot a huge blast of darkness in his direction. The impact caused Draco to crash down to the ground next to Jin. He wasn't giving up yet. Draco's wings tensed as he inhaled again. The celestial spirit exhaled fire as sharp talons spiraled around it. It was once again responded by a blast of darkness. While both of the attacks collided, Draco took the opportunity to beat up the man right then. With one of his dragon-like arms, he slashed at the man but froze midway. Draco's pupils shrank and trembled.

"Wh-What's goin' on? Why can't I move my body?" he choked out.

"Draco!" Jin cried. "Watch out!"

The man gave Draco a small glance and in that instant, he was sent spiraling out into oblivion with the after effects of the dark attack.

"Damn it!" Draco shouted, disappearing back to celestial world.

Jin tensed and seemed to cringe back in fear. "Shit. I'm almost out of magic. I summoned too many spirits already."

A glowing presence appeared next to him. Leo stood there, adjusting his glasses and smirking.

"Then let me help you, Jin. I went through the gate using my own magic so you don't use any. I'll beat this guy you for."

"Thanks Leo!" Jin exclaimed, relieved, smiling brightly.

"O Regulus… grant me your strength!" Jin sensed the increased magic power within Leo. "Stand back, I got this." Leo charged at the man from Soaring Eagle, dodging every darkness attack with his melee. "Lion brilliance!" he shouted, raising his fist.

A bright light appeared blinding even Jin. The blue haired boy looked away, trusting Leo would defeat the opponent.

Leo reared up behind the man, kicked his head, and readied his fist. "Regulus impact!" A lion made from light appeared and pounded itself at the man.

The man from Soaring Eagle soared far away and crashed into a tree. Seeing this, Leo retreated back to the spirit world.

"Call me more often, Jin," he said as he left.

Wearily, the man's eyes closed as darkness enveloped him.

"L-Leo… I don't think you finished him completely… AHH!" A large blast of darkness swept over Jin.

XXXX

"H-Hey, kid! N-No! Stop!"

Ciel, laughing psychotically, was greatly injuring the Soaring Eagle member now. He had no mercy.

"AAAHHH!" Jin stopped him by landing on the younger boy. "Oh, Ciel. It's a good thing I fell on you, you were about to kill that guy!"

The younger boy's eyes looked normal again as he stopped, he panting heavily. "Did I go overboard?"

Jin sweat dropped. "No. _No_. You know, maybe you went a _tiny _bit insane and maybe just MAYBE _almost_ killed that guy. You know. But don't listen to me, you didn't do _anything_ bad." His sarcasm was so obvious it irritated Ciel.

"Shut up, wolf boy," Ciel scowled. "I don't need your sarcasm."

"Now, now…"

XXXX

Mavis didn't like how this was going. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gwen tending to Ralph, crying. Behind her, she heard Jin scream. As Ralph and Jacve had said, Soaring Eagle didn't seem to play fair. They were a despicable guild. Not a nice one at all.

A finger tapped Mavis's shoulder. Someone from Soaring Eagle stood there, smirking.

"I heard you were the guild master of the fairies, am I right?" she chuckled.

"Yes. I am. And who are you?" Mavis narrowed her eyes as she laughed more.

"The name's Kusano Miramo. Nice to met ya!" Kusano looked much like Mavis. She had blond hair that reached to her shoulders and they were about the same height. "Let's end this. You're guild's weak anyway."

Kusano raised her arm and a figure made from the dirt arose. Moving her fingers like a puppeteer, she maneuvered the dirt figure to attack Mavis. Lightly, Mavis floated in the air. She looked agitated. The dirt figure went to punch the guild master but Mavis stopped its punch with her hand. Still looking agitated, Mavis squeezed her hand until the hand of the dirt figure was nothing but dirt once again.

"Wrap them in the light of the day. Let them see the light of this day and shine upon them," Mavis chanted, raising her hand to Kusano.

Light gathered in her hand into sphere. Kusano tensed.

"I won't let you!" She raised both of her hands. The dirt figure punched Mavis again only to get blocked by the blond girl's leg.

The sphere blasted itself at the Soaring Eagle girl's face. She screamed in agony as the light blinded her and burned the skin that was exposed to the light. The dirt figure disappeared into dirt and fell to the ground where it belonged. Even as Mavis's light disappeared, Kusano continued rolling on the ground, screaming in pain. Mavis lightly landed back down on the ground and walked away.

"You made my daughter cry you bitch."

Mavis turned to the voice. An old man with gray hair and a fuzzy mustache glared down at the guild master.

"I am Fest Miramo, the guild master of Soaring Eagle," the man introduced coldly.

The blond girl smiled. "Fest Miramo, yes, I have heard about you and I would like to make a request."

Fest punched Mavis's face before the girl could continue. "Shut up you dirty whore."

Mavis wiped the blood that was dripping down her nose and rubbed her forehead. "Owwy…" she mumbled. "As I was saying," Mavis continued. "Please stop killing the members of Midnight Wolf. Killing people will not gain you anything but blood on your hands that will never wash away."

Again, Soaring Eagle's guild master punched Fairy Tail's master. But Mavis was expecting this. She ducked her head as Fest's fist went for her head.

"I ain't gunna stop killing those damn Wolves," Fest spat. "Soaring Eagle is the best guild there is and no guild's gunna change that."

"Ah, I see. You kill for your hurt pride. Do you not?" Mavis asked matter-of-factly. She sighed and looked down. "Please order your guild to cease fire."

"No way in hell!" Fest shouted, aiming for another punch.

Confused, Mavis tilted her head. "Can you not use magic?" she asked.

Fest attempted to punch her again but Mavis grabbed his fist and squeezed it until she heard the bones in his hand snap. He screamed in pain as tears welled at the edges of his eyes.

"Damn it!"He punched her with his other fist.

Mavis shattered the bones in that hand as well. "Please stop punching me."

"You're just messing with me you bitch!" Fest screamed in frustration. He collapsed to the ground feeling nothing but defeat. "Damn it," he cursed. "Even a guild no one has heard of is stronger than me."

The blond girl's ear twitched. "What do you mean?"

Suddenly, members of Soaring Eagle seemed to just disappear one by one. Fest was sweating as his guild members disappeared. Mavis heard the confusion around them.

"Soaring Eagle is nothing but an illusion by my magic," Fest told Mavis coldly. "I used to be the guild master of Midnight Wolf until they ran me off. Then, I used my magic to erase me from their memories, started my own guild, and rose to the top so I could show them my worth." He shouted angrily to the sky in frustration. "But they're still strong!"

Mavis crouched down next to him and put her hand on his chest. She gave him a small smile. Still frustrated, Fest kicked Mavis. The blond girl crashed against a tree where Kusano was still crying.

"It's over!" Jacve proclaimed. "Midnight Wolf is victorious!" A chorus of approval rippled through the crowd.

**XXXX**

**OwlCookies: yeah… I decided to bump up the rating cuz I think its stupid how theyr saying "darn" instead of "damn"**


	12. Kidnapped!

**OwlCookies: the power of dark!hetalia music videos is distracting my brains inspiration/imagination… gomen…**

**XXXX**

"Thank you for helping us, even if it wasn't as expected." Jacve Zera thanked, bowing to the young blond girl. "Midnight Wolf is forever in your debt. We will assist Fairy Tail to the best of our power."

Mavis smiled and tilted her head. "It is an obligation to help fellow guilds. Think nothing of it. Besides, I just wanted to stop the killing."

Jacve shrugged. "I guess now that we know that Soaring Eagle's a fluke, we're the number one guild. We probably couldn't have done it without you. Thank you, again."

The blond girl nodded. She was about to walk away when Mavis turned back and smirked. "The next time you see us, we'll be racing you to the top."

Midnight Wolf's guild master returned the challenge with a smirk. "We'll see about that."

XXXX

"Ne… I know this is a probably a bad time to ask… but where did Jin go?" Yusari asked. He stopped walking, making him lag behind with Gwen bumping into him.

Mavis and Ciel, who walked on ahead with a light conversation stopped and turned around to him. They both had the same surprised look as they realized that the eldest boy was gone. Not believing their eyes, they looked in every direction. Where could Jin have gone? As of present, they were walking through the sweltering desert with nothing but sand, rocks, and a few cacti here and there. It wasn't possible that Jin could disappear like that.

"He… was just here, wasn't he?" Ciel asked, coughing a bit.

"Ciel-kun, you're not sick, are you?" Mavis asked with a look of concern.

"Of course not!" he snapped. "I've got a strong immune system!" He began coughing some more as he shouted that last sentence.

Yusari groaned. "Ne, now we've got the two blue haired boys with problems." He then snorted. "Must be a blue haired genetic thing."

Ciel conked him on the head and began fake coughing on the younger boy. "You wanna go, you runt? Or do you want me to get you sick!" He continued his fake coughing, accidentally coughing for real.

"Hey! Quit it! I don't want your sickly germs!" Yusari squeaked. "Yucky! Go away!"

"Germaphobe!" Ciel exclaimed, hacking now. "Damn it, I keep coughing!" He was obviously frustrated by this new found weakness.

"It's called being sick, genius," Yusari retorted.

"Germaphobe!"

"Idiot!"

"Guys…" Gwen muttered.

"Shorty!"

"Insecure!"

"Uhm… We kinda have…" Gwen attempted.

"Runt!"

"Failure!"

"…To find Jin…?" Then she gave up.

"You fail you, pipsqueak!"

"HAH! ALL YOU CAN DO IS CALL ME A SYNONYM OF SHORT!"

Ciel whacked his head making the boy fall to the ground, groaning in pain. An anger mark twitched over the blue haired boy's head. He stopped as he knelt down on his knees, hacking and wheezing.

Mavis grabbed both Ciel and Yusari's shirt collars and lifted them up with both hands. She looked at them, frustrated. "Ciel is sick and Jin is missing. Please, cooperate." The blond girl had a threatening glare. "You've also scared Gwen to tears."

Both boys looked at Gwen who sat under the shade of a nearby cactus, rubbing her eyes while crying.

"Sheesh," Ciel grumbled.

XXXX

After numerous and countless hours of searching for the celestial mage, the four remaining Fairy Tail members collapsed on the ground, exhausted. The air seemed thick, warm, and moist as dark gray clouds began rolling in. Ciel groaned.

"I hate the rain," he grumbled. "It makes me feel useless, gloomy, depressed, and…" he yawned. "…really sleepy," Ciel finished.

He rested his head on the boulder behind them. They were virtually much in the middle of nowhere. All that was around them was grass, grass, meadows, grass, rocks, flowers, grass, grass, more grass, and did I mention grass? That was pretty much it. Nothing but small mountains was seen from the distance. But to replace the semi-blue sky, rain and thunder clouds were no scattered about and around, completely blanketing the sky in a dark blurred blanket.

"Is it just me, or does the air seem denser?" Yusari asked, moving his arm in front of him to test his feeling. "It's like… different…" he tried to explain.

Mavis did the same, her nose twitching as she looked around curiously. After a few seconds, she wagged her finger at Yusari and grinned. "Maybe those are magic clouds."

"Why do I find myself doubt that?" the brown haired boy grumbled while turning away.

Thunder boomed in the distance. Yusari looked toward the sound and quickly saw a flash of lightning. He then looked around, seeing if there was any form of shelter nearby as a downpour began raining down on them. Seeing that nothing, not even a pile of rocks, could shelter them from the rain, he sighed and gave up, seating himself back on the lawn of grass that never seemed to end.

"Ne, we're going to get caught in the rain unless we do something about it," Yusari commented. He looked at the others and realized that their eyes were closed in a seemingly deep sleep. "Uh, guys?"

The air was getting denser now. But strangely, as the rain began lessening, Yusari felt a strange calm wash over him as if this was on the calm of the storm. A harsh yet gentle breeze blew past him, whipping his hair around. His eyes grew heavier until he couldn't take it any longer. He let sleep wash over him until there was nothing left.

XXXX

There was a new and strange warm feeling that tickled Mavis's skin. Her head felt like it was full of fluff and cotton with little else. In this warm embrace, she felt like a small and fragile object. It was as if she could break at the slightest movement. Mavis's hair swayed a bit as the soft warmth seemed to grow in greater depth.

She opened her eyes slowly, her mind clearing in the process. When Mavis was fully awake and alert, she felt her groggy mind disappear instantly. She felt like she had just woken up from a decade-long nap, literally.

"Where am I?" she asked strongly, enjoying this new sense of alert.

The warmth she had felt seemed to have been from a fire lacrima placed in a brick fireplace. Around her were 4 dark gray walls, bare and expressionless. It had no windows or way of escape whatsoever. All that was inside that small cubicle was the fireplace, some blankets, a rug, and a silver tray filled with gruel.

"Yusari, Ciel, Gwen?" Mavis asked, confused. "…Jin?"

Mavis twitched her nose, trying to see if she could sense anything familiar, but everything seemed nullified by a strange magic force that felt thickly around the room. Curiously, she stood up. A new sense of feelings shot up through her nerves as her bare feet touched the carpet. Even in this state of awe, she walked to the fireplace and lightly touched one of the bricks. Instantly, translucent runes appeared at her hand.

"I see," Mavis told herself. "These runes are making the air here dense." Her nose twitched again. "And it seems to also be canceling out any form of magic."

She sat back down, wondering how she was going to get out. Her eyes sparkled mischievously as she devised a plan in her head. Mavis reached for the food on the silver tray. Instead of going for the food though, she instead reached for the edge of the bowl and "accidentally" fell over, pushing the edge and causing the gruel to spill all over the floor.

"Oops!" she exclaimed, scratching the back of her head innocently. "There's a mess on the floor. How am I going to clean this all up? Great."

Mavis chose her words precisely, pronouncing every syllable with care, but making sure it didn't sound cheesy.

Just as she grabbed one of the blankets to clean up the mess, a man about the age of 23 walked in through a door that had been camouflaged, looking down. He had long silver hair tied up in a ponytail that hung over his mahogany red v-neck. The man gave out a long sigh as he came in but stopped half way as he saw the mess on the ground.

"Absolutely disgusting," he spat in irritation.

Mavis stood there, dumbfounded, as he walked out. Quickly, before the door closed completely, Mavis ducked and rolled out of the room, quietly. Seeing that the man walked toward the left, Mavis decided to quickly scurry to the right. Maybe the others were somewhere here.

There was a door to her left. It didn't look suspiciously or anything I mean… it was just a door… right?

Quietly, she opened the door a crack and peeked at what was inside. It seemed to be the control room. Wait. The control room? Mavis saw the large window in the room. The clouds seemed awfully close. They must have been sky born. But… why?

"You there! Little girl! What are you doing here?"

Mavis flinched slightly, not expecting anyone to catch her. She looked toward the voice and saw that it belonged to the pilot of this flying ship. The pilot, with one hand on the wheel and the other on his hip, looked down sternly at her.

"Well? Don't make me repeat myself, girl!"

When Mavis had woken up, she had this sense of new. It was like all the fog had just simply drifted away from her mind so she could think clearly now. So, might as well use her new-found mind to ridicule this man!

"My mother pointed out this aircraft to me and I got curious so I came aboard to explore. Sorry, sir, I didn't know that was wrong…" she frowned innocently.

The pilot relaxed. "Don't wander off too much, you might hurt yourself," he warned softly.

Mavis smiled. "I won't, sir! But can you please tell me where the bathroom is? I hafta go potty!" She raised her arms childishly.

"Go down right through the hallway, left, and there will be a door labeled. Come back after, ok?"

"Yes, sir!"

Giggling, she walked out and turned right. When she was sure he couldn't hear her anymore, she stopped giggling and looked straight ahead seriously. Quickly, she walked through the hallways in search of her friends. That was, until she saw a vent. Mavis quickly crawled into it and resealed the vent so she could quietly crawl through the ducts.

"This is useful," she whispered to herself.

At every bright light she came across, Mavis peered through in hopes of finding her friends. And finally, she did.

"This is messed up! I can't use my magic!" Mavis realized that the voice belonged to Ciel.

"Oh, it must be the end of the world." That was Yusari.

"Where did Mavis-san go?" Gwen.

"I hope she's ok... Ne, do you think she's looking for us?" Yusari asked.

"Hah, if I knew her better, she probably _is_ looking for us," Ciel remarked.

That was a good time to reveal herself.

"I'm up here!" Mavis hissed.

Confused, the three looked around at the ceiling until they found Mavis's face at the edge of the vent.

"Hah! I told you so!" Ciel exclaimed, triumphantly.

"Well… We never doubted you," Yusari told him. He then looked up at Mavis. "What happened?"

Mavis shrugged. "_Well_ I woke up and I felt weird! It was like all the marshmallow fluff disappeared from my head! But _anyway_, this one guy came into the place I was being held and said something so he left. I followed after him and tried finding you guys," she explained.

"You do seem… more talkative," Yusari commented, sweat dropping.

"Now come on! We have to escape before they catch-"

The same silver haired man that Mavis had seen walked in on their conversation. He narrowed his eyes at them.

"What do you think you four are doing?" he asked them.

"Four? What are you talking about? There are only three of us here," Ciel scoffed.

The silver hair man pointed up at the vent where Mavis remained. "The girl up there escaped earlier." He then motioned for her to come down. "Why don't you join your friends."

Hesitantly, Mavis jumped down from the vent. She patted down her pink dress when she stood back up straight. Her nose twitched and for a second, her eyes looked at the man distantly. She took in a deep breath and sighed it out.

"Who are you and why are we here?" she asked him plainly.

"You can call me Purehito," the silver haired man replied.

"Yeah, ok, but why are we here?" Ciel scowled.

Purehito scratched his back. "That, I cannot tell you."

Ciel advanced forward with his fist raised, but Mavis grabbed his shirt collar and held him back. When he span around angrily, she shook her head. Instantly, he stood down.

"Loyal fairies you have," Purehito laughed.

Mavis narrowed her eyes. "How do you know that?"

He raised his hands. "Everyone knows about you guys. The soon-to-be-guild Fairy Tail. Considerably known as a Dark Guild since you aren't officially a guild. You lot have gone through much haven't you." He too narrowed his eyes. "But you're missing one, aren't you."

"You should know! You kidnapped him!" Yusari exclaimed.

"I hate little people who assume too much."

"I hate _you_!"

"Yusari," Mavis warned. Yusari stood down as well.

"Mavis-san," Gwen whimpered, clinging onto the older girl's dress.

Protectively, Mavis wrapped an arm around the girl.

"Where is Jin?" Mavis asked.

"Like I implied," Purehito said. "I don't know." He pronounced each syllable clearly and separated each word with a second or two.

"Well, well, good job Purehito. You found the fairies," a voice chuckled.

**XXXX**

**OwlCookies: phewf! Glad I got tht over with sry for the insanely long update wait**


End file.
